The Connecticut estate that legendary composer Richard Rogers once called home is on the market for $15 million.
Built in 1965, the seven-bedroom, 10-bathroom home at 4800 Congress St. in Fairfield has a six-car garage, a tennis court and an in-ground swimming pool.
Rogers wrote more than 900 songs and 43 Broadway musicals during his career, including "The Sound of Music," "The King and I," and "South Pacific." He was the first composer to win Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony, and Pulitzer Prize awards. Rodgers was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and died nine years later.
Ownership of the property has changed hands since Rodgers' passing at the age of 77, but the home still has one artifact from his time there. Rodgers and his wife, Dorothy, used a call button panel to contact service staff members when they lived in the manse. The discontinued panel is still on the wall, said listing agent Leslie Razook.
The home has several buildings on its 39-acre lot, including a guesthouse and a two-story home office — all of which are enclosed by stone walls.
Razook, an agent with William Pitt Sotheby's International Realty, said the property is "like a private resort."
"Every single part of the house is open to the whole property," she said. "It almost looks more like a house you’ll see in California."
The house is roughly 9,100 square feet and contains two fireplaces, a partially finished basement and a home theater that occupants access behind a bookcase in the living room.
Whoever buys the home will have no immediate neighbors, Razook noted. The largest plot of land next to the home is a nature preserve owned by the Connecticut Audubon Society.
The home is in the Greenfield Hill neighborhood, where single-family homes are surrounded by acres of land, giving the community a countryside feel. Residents enjoy hiking trails at Mountain Laurel Open Space and teeing off at H. Smith Richardson Golf Course. Another famous musical icon who lived here was conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein.
Fairfield is known as a coastal community with five town beaches and a private Roman Catholic college, Sacred Heart University.
Potential buyers have visited the home in recent weeks and most of them have been impressed by the panoramic views of the estate.
"Some people are impressed by the layout; some people fall in love with the gym," Razook said. "Everything is very thoughtfully spread out."
