Joan Rivers Lightens Up: A Dark Hallway Gets a Makeover

by HOOKEDONHOUSES on JULY 25, 2009


Joan Rivers has put her Connecticut house on the market for $6.5 million. Architectural Digest profiled it, showing the remodel that Rivers spearheaded with a series of pretty impressive before and after photos. I was really struck by the difference in the dark and narrow hallway that leads to the library. Here it is before:



And after the remodel:



Not only were windows added, but on the other wall they painted a series of trompe l�oeil windows depicting the residences of family and friends. Between each painted window is a long antique mirror to bring even more light into the space. And the door at the end of the hall was removed and replaced by an open arched doorway.

To see the rest of the before and after photos, check out the article in Architectural Digest. For more information, the real estate listing is here.

Tommy Hilfiger�s Stone Hill Estate

House Tour: Tommy Hilfiger�s Stone Hill Estate

by HOOKEDONHOUSES on MARCH 26, 2008

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Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger�s mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut is now on the market for $27.9 million. I found the MLS listing for it and had to share it with you. It�s always fun to look at famous peoples� homes to see how they live.

�Stone Hill� is a 20,000 square foot estate, with 7 bedrooms, 9 baths, 8 fireplaces, and 4 garages, decorated with �an artfully eclectic mix of Georgian moldings, vintage marble/stone fireplaces, cashmere/exotic leather wall treatments and heated marble floors.�

The property boasts over 4 acres with an infinity pool and tennis court. If the weather isn�t accommodating, there�s an indoor basketball and squash court, gym, sauna, and spa treatment room. Oh, and don�t forget the �wine cellar and grotto.�
































What do you think? Do you like it? Would you buy it if you had a spare $27.9 million lying around?

Story via Michelle Morris�s Real Estate Blog. See Sotheby�s MLS listing for it here. Picture of Hilfiger via Photorazzi, Starpulse.

A Charming �Country Cape� For Sale in Connecticut

by HOOKEDONHOUSES on SEPTEMBER 25, 2011


On Sundays I like to spotlight a house from the real estate listings that I think is beautiful, different, or interesting in some way. This week I found what may be my dream home, described in the listing as a �Country Cape� in Washington, Connecticut.

I�ve always fantasized about having a country house like this�possibly because I�ve watched too many old movies that feature them, like Bringing Up Baby and Christmas in Connecticut.

This one may look like an old farmhouse that�s been renovated, but it was actually built in 2005 with authentic beams and fieldstone and lots of beautiful woodwork for added character. Take a look!





I keep thinking of more movies that have made me want to buy a country house over the years. Baby Boom is another favorite (despite how moving to the country made Diane Keaton�s character kind of lose her mind). Wonder how cute the vet is in this town?



Love the stone fireplace and vaulted ceiling in here with the old beams.

Can�t you see this house all styled up and on the cover of Country Living?

There�s nearly 4,700 square feet, with 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, and a separate apartment over the garage.



A pretty portico:

The back of the house has arbors and a fieldstone wall:

Want it? (I do!) Asking price is $1.495 million. For more photos and information, check the listing by Carol Bablonka of Klemm Real Estate.

�Her Alibi:� Tom Selleck�s House in Connecticut

by HOOKEDONHOUSES on JUNE 13, 2011

In the comedy �Her Alibi,� Tom Selleck plays a murder-mystery writer who falls in love with the beautiful Paulina Porizkova, who may or may not be a murderer. I loved it when it came out in 1989, and his house in Connecticut was a big reason why.

I remember being in jaw-dropping awe of it back then, so I was excited to watch it again this week to get another look at it.

The newer addition built onto the original house is modern in an �80s kind of way with windows and doors that really don�t belong with the old home. I had forgotten about that until I watched the movie again.

The first shot of the interior of the house is a long, lingering pan across the stone-walled great room and up the open staircase to the front door as Phil Blackwood (Selleck) and Nina (Porizkova) walk in:

Even though it�s supposed to be in Connecticut, the movie was actually filmed in Baltimore, Maryland. And from what I can tell, they used the actual interiors of the house for the shoot. Either that, or they built some pretty elaborate sets. (If anyone knows for sure, fill us in!)

According to a commenter on the Baltimore Sun�s forums: �They filmed a lot in Baltimore County. The house where Tom Selleck�s character lived is somewhere on Belfast Road near Glyndon.�

As I was researching this post, I thought it was interesting to learn that the Production Designer was Henry Bumstead and the Set Decoration was done by James W. Payne, the same team that worked on another one of my favorite movie houses�Funny Farm. (You can see my post about that one here.)

Tom Selleck was 44 when he made this movie. �Magnum, P.I.� had just come to an end of its 8-year run, and he�d had a hit with �3 Men and a Baby� two years before (1987).

Paulina Porizkova, one of the original Supermodel Celebrities of the �80s, was born in Czechoslovakia. She was 24 when she made this movie and married Ric Ocasekthat same year. They�re still together and have two sons.

The kitchen doesn�t look too outdated, really�which is surprising considering that this was the �80s, and �80s decorating doesn�t always age well:

There�s a windowseat in the kitchen:

The eating area has a lower, beamed ceiling:

From this angle you can see the arched window above the kitchen cabinets:

The Guest Room that Nina stays in has an arched window, too:

Phil�s Bedroom:

When Phil has a dream about Nina coming into his bedroom to kill him in the middle of the night, we get to see all of the rafters and what appears to be a loft above his bed:

Phil�s Writing Study has a desk in the dormer:

Did you know Tom Selleck was �thisclose� to being Indiana Jones instead of Harrison Ford? To take the role he would have had to break his �Magnum, P.I.�contract, and he didn�t think it was right to do that.

Ironically, the shooting of the pilot for �Magnum� was delayed for so many months that he would have had time to film Raiders of the Lost Ark after all. (Makes you wonder how different that movie would have been with him as Indy, doesn�t it?)

Phil talks on the phone in the lower-level family room, moments before Nina accidentally shoots him with an arrow from the backyard:

Nina takes a late-night swim in the pool:

Moments later, the house blows up, and suspicious minds think Nina might have had something to do with it:

But never fear�the house appears to be completely intactand undamaged in the scenes that follow (that�s the kind of movie this is�you can�t think about any of the plot points too hard!).

Here�s a better look at the addition off the side of the house:

Nina practices her archery skills in the backyard, giving us a look at the back of the house:

Does anyone else remember seeing this movie in the �80s and falling in love with the house? Do you still like it after all these years?