The Zieglers are continuing their long and expensive farewell to Darien, Connecticut.
Cynthia Ziegler, a descendant of baking powder magnate William Ziegler, listed the private Hay Island off the Gold Coast for $35 million, the New York Post reported. The 18-acre island is the last piece of real estate held by the Zieglers in Darien, where they’ve embarked on a long-winded selloff.
The listing was first reported by Mansion Global. Cynthia and her husband, Renfrew Brighton, are planning to relocate to the south.
The island with views of the Long Island Sound is accessible by a gated causeway. Not simply a plot of land, the island also has an 8,700-square-foot colonial home with six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and six fireplaces, and a two-bedroom guest house constructed 15 years ago.
There’s also an infinity-edge pool, a private dock and a spa. It takes only minutes to get to the heart of Darien, an affluent town on Connecticut’s Gold Coast.
Sotheby’s International Realty’s Lesle McElwreath has the listing. She’s pitching the two-lot listing as a way for a buyer to mold a family compound, like the Zieglers did. They’ve since moved “far and wide,” according to McElwreath.
In May 2023, the town of Darien paid $85 million for Great Island, a peninsula off of the Gold Coast. The Steinkraus family, descended from Ziegler’s granddaughter, put the property up for sale in 2016 for $175 million. The town floated a museum, youth camps, pickleball and a community pool among options for the land, which it aimed to preserve from extensive development.
In late 2023, descendants of the industrialist sold Ziegler Farm to an anonymous buyer for $57.5 million, more than $1 million per acre. The largely undeveloped 51-acre parcel was listed for $85 million, meaning the sellers took a 32 percent discount from the original ask.
— Holden Walter-Warner
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