Landmark Riverside Victorian Offered At $14.5M

A Greenwich landmark, plaqued by The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich, with more than 230 feet of direct water frontage on Greenwich Cove has stood proudly on the Riverside shoreline for more than 120 years.

Totally renovated in recent years, the 1885 Victorian, replete with three-story tower, has more than 8,100 square feet of interior space and 1.69 acres of lawns and age-old trees surrounding its fish-scale shingle walls. The house is listed at by Joann Erb of Round Hill Partners at $14.5 million.

The land once belonged to Amasa A. Marks, who was born in 1825, the grandson of Abraham Marks, a Milford farmer. Amasa, who became a New York manufacturer of artificial limbs, bought 25 farmland acres of Riverside shorefront from Charles Hendrie Jr. for $10,500 in 1872, including the 1725 Ferris homestead. The acreage and a farmhouse had been the wedding gift of Gideon Ferris to his daughter, Caroline.

An additional 75 acres of woodland was acquired from John B. Hendrie and Henry Peck by Marks and his wife, Lucy Ann Platt, ultimately affording them more than half a mile of water frontage.

Soon, willow trees, used at the time to make artificial limbs, were being planted on the property to supply his shop. The trees also gave birth to the name of this part of Riverside: Willowmere.

As the trees grew, Marks would select, cut and rough-shape the timber to be shipped to his New York shop for finishing and fitting. Inventor of the rubber foot, Marks also created the adjustable knee joint and the rubber hand with ductile fingers.

In 1888, Marks converted a farm building on the property into a sawmill, destined later in life to become part of Tina and Ole Amundsen's boatyard in Old Greenwich. A steam mill went up by Willowmere Lake for drilling holes and drying the wood of the prostheses.

At the time of Marks's death in 1905, the property of 100 acres, with two dwellings and two islands, Rig and Rock, was appraised at $68,500.

The property was ultimately subdivided by his sons, George, Charles and William. William also developed Laddin's Rock Farm.

The welcoming wrap-around porch that literally encircles the late 19th century house on Marks' land has a cone-topped and balustraded porte cochere to one side. Through the double front doors is the entry, with an intricate floral ceiling medallion, block wainscoting, a vibrant stained glass window, and inlaid flooring that reappears in both living room and dining room.

The living room has a windowed bay, a coffered ceiling, and a fireplace with an Adam-style carved mantel. The dining room features paneled wainscoting, a coffered ceiling, a windowed bay and a fireplace whose mantel has paired colonettes with acanthus-leaf capitals. Off the dining room is a wet bar with a round brass sink, a wine cooler, refrigerator and green granite counters.

Christopher Peacock of Greenwich designed the large kitchen with its beveled Corian countertops and tile backsplashes inset with floral designs. The six-burner Viking stove with grill is set beneath a brick archway, and the almost square island, sheathed in marble, hosts a sink and a pair of Bosch dishwashers. Cabinets have a tint of pale green, and there's a built-in desk and a six-windowed bay for the dining and family area. Overhead, the vaulted mahogany ceiling has a peaked roof supported by brackets. Doors open to the porches.

The adjoining wainscoted mudroom is fitted with cubbies, and there's a nearby powder room with pedestal sink.

Typical of its era, there are front and back parlors on this level. The front parlor has an antique marble fireplace with an arched opening and a coved ceiling. The back parlor is used as a family room, with built-in lounging couches, a media center with foliated brackets and moldings. and also a coved ceiling.

The main stairway has an unusual railing of criss-crossing rails that intersect in turned knobs. The huge newel posts are fluted and turned, and there are seven more newel posts of smaller dimensions rising to the top level.

Up one flight is the master suite, occupying one whole side of the residence, with a sitting room, coffered-ceiling bedroom and walk-in closets. The master bath, in beige and terra cotta, has an oval whirlpool tub with water views, a shower of tumbled marble with a stained-glass window, a radiant-heated marble floor and mahogany vanities.

At the end of the hallway is a large covered balcony, and across the way are two double bedrooms and two baths.

The third level has a built-in study center under an eyebrow window at the end of the hall, a bedroom with bath, two more bedrooms, an octagonal tower room and a hall bath with double vanities.

The lower level has a game room, a spa bath with two showers, and two sinks for the pool and another laundry.

A rectangular swimming pool is surrounded by flagstone and black wrought-iron fencing, and there's a 20-foot dock on the Cove. Overlooking the pool and lake, the porch features an octagonal gazebo with a balustrade and columns with gingerbread details.

Beyond a breezeway is a three-car garage, topped by an apartment with a studio, bedroom and bath and a windowed cupola at the apex of the steep roofs.