This 2.91-acre estate on the coast of Connecticut traces its legacy to the days of America’s industrial boom, and the 13,163-square-foot Mediterranean-style villa at its heart continues the esteemed pedigree thanks to meticulous maintenance and expansion by Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford.
The coast of Connecticut and New York’s Long Island are a storied stretch of land whose early-20th-century Golden Age has long been the nexus of a unique glamour—the sort captured in lore and literature, including F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby and similar tales. This estate in Riverside, Connecticut, traces its legacy to the days of America’s industrial boom, when businessman and financier Henry Francis Shoemaker established a grand getaway here, on an enviable waterfront peninsula. The name Shoemaker gave his villa, Cedar Cliff, became so locally revered and renowned that the road on which it was located was named for it. And so pedigreed was the property that in the 1920s it became the home of the exclusive Cedar Cliff Beach Club. Decades later, in the 1990s, the link with legend continued, as sports and media luminaries Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford purchased the 2.91-acre property to create a new retreat both refined and relaxed, elegant and inviting.
Riverside, Connecticut| Leslie McElwreath, Sotheby’s International Realty – Greenwich Brokerage
Today the majestic 13,163-square-foot Mediterranean-style villa that anchors the gated peninsula has a footprint somewhat larger than its original—the Giffords added a wing during their years of ownership—but the singular ambience persists. Classical elements—a quintessential terra-cotta-tile roof, intricate interior millwork, richly hued antique hardwood floors, and ceiling tracery—exist alongside a wide variety of contemporary comforts and conveniences, among them an elevator, an estate-wide generator, new custom windows, an office, a recording studio, a wine cellar, and a 20-seat theater. Spaces for day-to-day living and festive entertaining are plentiful and include a billiards room and a serene sunroom. The eight restful bedrooms all enjoy water vistas, and in the primary suite—located in the new wing—an abundance of windows blur the boundary between indoors and out, making scenes of blue sky and placid sea practically everpresent.
While the prestigious Indian Head Association affords the luxury of a nearby private beach, Cedar Cliff’s impressive manicured grounds are, in effect, a personal private resort. Inimitable in both scale and amenities, they encourage all manner of alfresco activities: open-air dining beneath an enchanting pergola; cocktailing at a bluestone bar; lounging on any of the numerous sun-washed and shady terraces; relaxing in the refreshing swimming pool and spa; benefiting from the cabana’s fitness center, kitchenette, full bath, and changing rooms; frolicking on an emerald expanse of impossibly lush lawn; engaging in a rousting match of tennis; basking in the warmth of an outdoor fireplace; or boating on the brisk waters of Greenwich Cove thanks to some 1,250 feet of direct water frontage, a stone pier, and a deepwater dock. The view from nearly every vantage point on the estate is, naturally, priceless, stretching across the water to the sparkling, inspiring skyline of Manhattan.
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