The Colgate Estate, located in the northeast corner of Connecticut in Sharon, is one of the state’s most beautiful and most architecturally stunning residences. The home’s illustrious past can still be seen in the numerous original details found throughout its nineteen rooms. Whether marveling at fine embellishments such as the oak and walnut paneling and woodwork, Mott and Fish ironwork, Fontaine hardware and handcrafted marble fireplaces, or standing back to enjoy the mix of French, Italian and Victorian styles, one can still envision the original owners planning the design with the architect and laying the foundation for a true masterpiece.
Romulus Riggs Colgate, whose grandfather founded the perfume and soap business that would eventually launch the renowned toothpaste brand, and his wife worked closely with highly regarded architect J. William Cromwell, Jr., on the design. Construction began in 1901 on the 18th-century Italian Renaissance-style home, which features hallmarks including Palladian architecture and a stucco on stone structure. Susan Colgate helmed the responsibility of creating a simultaneously spacious and intimate interior décor, and her tastes are still observed throughout, from the French Empire motif in her bedroom to the Louis XIV and XV adornments in his.
Visitors are greeted by four impressive Corinthian columns, a grand statement introducing the majesty to be experienced inside the 12,000+/- square-foot home. Wrought-iron gates embellished with a family crest open to a great reception hall that doubles as a ballroom, boasting figures of English townspeople, clergy and noblemen done in plaster of Paris and outlining a lowered ceiling decorated with gold clusters. The room is enhanced with hardwood flooring with pale green marble surround and oak neo-Gothic wainscoting. Other significant highlights found inside include Palladian windows, a butterfly staircase, a fireplace imported from Italy and thought to date from the 17th century, as well as footed tubs and old water boxes with pull chains. This superbly designed residence enjoys a surrounding property to match its grandeur, including more than 106 acres with meandering carriage trails, reflecting pool, six-stall horse barn and large courtyard with privets and fountain.
After the Colgates, famed singer, songwriter and producer Paul Leka also owned the home, where the writer of hits like “Green Tamourine” and “Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)” occasionally did some recording. Now offered through Litchfield Hills Sotheby’s International Realty, the nine-bedroom, five full and three half-bath residence awaits a new owner for $8,999,000.
