Inside the Greenwich, Connecticut, Farm That Susie Hilfiger Is Selling for Nearly $18 Million
In the nearly 30 years she lived at Denbigh Farm, Susie Hilfiger resisted ever publishing photos or giving an interview on the home and its grounds. In the mid-1990s, when she and her former husband Tommy Hilfiger purchased the house, the fashion designer was at the height of his ubiquity. “I wanted privacy for my family,” she explains. When they found the home, she was pregnant with her fourth child, and the sprawling historic estate seemed like the ideal place to raise their family out of the public eye. “We instantly fell in love with it,” she recalls of the shingled manor house, which at the time was home to Joseph Verner Reed Jr., a close advisor to President George H. W. Bush and onetime ambassador to Morocco.
But three decades later, her four children have grown up, started families of their own, and moved away. Hilfiger has decided to follow suit, selling the property and relocating west to California to be closer to her flock. (Stair Galleries will be putting on a significant auction of the pieces included in the home, starting April 19.) “I loved raising my children at Denbigh Farm,” Hilfiger says, opening up for the first time about the historic property, which is currently listed for $17,995,000. “But now I’ve started a new chapter.”
Originally built in the late 1700s by a Quaker family, the house was renovated in the early 20th century by famed New York architects Albro & Lindeberg in the style of an English country estate, and it was updated in the early 2000s by Virginia-based architect Allan Greenberg. The property, which spans more than 17 acres overlooking the Long Island Sound, encompasses manicured gardens, an apple orchard, horse stables, tennis courts, a carriage house, and a playhouse designed in the style of George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, which Hilfiger commissioned after a visit to the home.
“The house deserved sensitivity and attention to detail,” Hilfiger says. “It had amazing bones and an even better spirit.” However, before giving it a facelift, the Hilfigers were forced to confront the problems that arose with a centuries-old house. “We redid everything: the roof, the plumbing, all the infrastructure,” she recounts.
For the decoration, Hilfiger enlisted Colefax & Fowler to help her realize her vision, which was loosely inspired by Sister Parish. Together they devised a palette rich in vintage-inspired textiles, elaborate patterns, and vibrant colors. For instance in the dining room, where they lined the walls with a hand-painted botanical de Gournay wallpaper, the light and airy design contrasted with a heavy polished triple pedestal English dining table, twelve ornately carved George III chairs, and a cut crystal George III chandelier with matching sconces. The primary bedroom centers around a Bunny Mellon–designed four-poster draped with Bob Collins & Sons floral fabric and set atop matching floral-print carpet. One of the more elaborately rendered spaces is an attic room, lined entirely with an antique-inspired red-and-yellow Batik that covers the bamboo canopy bed, plush chaise lounge, and sloped dormer ceiling. Hilfger lovingly describes the room as “totally filled with joy.”
But even once the renovation was complete, the project was far from over. “No room was ever finished,” she says. “They were always evolving. It was like having a new hairdo or wearing new colors each season.” And, though she was leading the charge on the design, she also gives credit to her former husband, who she says encouraged her creativity and shared her aesthetic. “I was fortunate enough to be married to a kind-hearted and generous man,” she says.
Indeed, their shared passion resulted in their acquisition of some unquestionably iconic pieces of furniture. When the late Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s furniture was auctioned off at Sotheby’s New York in 1997, the couple took home a few items from the lot. “We bought carpets, a pair of eagle-shaped consoles, and the famous blue sofa she kept at the end of her bed where she would keep her pug dolls,” Hilfiger remembers. “We even bought her green Venetian secretary where she conducted all her household business.” Those pieces still remain scattered throughout the home, adding a touch of stoic regality to the fabulously appointed rooms: a pair of leopard print tasseled floor pillows sit next to the living room coffee table; a Directoire-style silk-upholstered chair is tucked into the vanity in the primary bedroom; and the pair of Regency eagle-shaped giltwood consoles flank the doors of the salon.
Despite the extravagant origins of much of the home’s contents, it was always Hilfiger’s main mission to create a nest for her family. “It wasn’t important how much anything cost or what quality it was,” she says. “What matters is that that house had so much love inside.”
1/21A succession of neoclassical-style columns rings the entrance hall. In the center sits a 19th-century mahogany library table and a pair of red lacquer Chippendale-style chairs piled beneath a collection of books on art, fashion, and design.
2/21In a boot room lined with upholstered plaid wall covering, Hilfiger shows off her children’s equestrian ribbons and mementos.
3/21A giltwood eagle purchased at Sotheby’s sits at the base of this winding staircase papered with a chinoiserie-inspired Gracie wall covering.
4/21Hilfiger’s collections of antique Chinese and Staffordshire porcelain are displayed fireside in one of the home’s living rooms. The Arts & Crafts style rug is from The Antique and Artisan Gallery, the Chippendale-style chairs are from Colefax & Fowler, the pad foot table is from Yale Burge and the leopard-print upholstered Louis XVI stools were bought at Sotheby’s.
5/21In the sitting room, Hilfiger paired opulent antiques like a Louis XVI wingback armchair, lacquered lyre-base sewing table, and an antique chinoiserie-style coffee table bought at Sotheby’s with a playful leopard-print carpet from Stark and matching tasseled floor pillows purchased from the estate of the late Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
Photo: Douglas Friedman6/21Coral-toned wallpaper from Tyler Hall, a Dash & Albert leopard print carpet, and macramé pendant lamps infuse this cozy sitting room with a tropical feel.
7/21Clustered on an Empire-style pedestal table is Hilfiger’s collection of ceramic parrots, all of which were sourced from Lynda Willauer antiques.
8/21A hand-painted botanical motif de Gournay wall covering wraps the dining room walls. The carved wooden George III dining chairs and English triple pedestal table are from Colefax & Fowler, and the cut crystal chandelier was found at David Duncan.
9/21Hilfiger keeps her collection of Staffordshire creamware tureens in the black-and-white hued kitchen.
10/21Hilfiger’s colorful collection of ceramic vases sit in a kitchen corner.
11/21In the breakfast room, which overlooks the sprawling tree-filled grounds, a white faience rabbit tureen sits atop the stone mantle.
12/21A riot of floral prints brightens up the primary bedroom, including a set of botanical prints from Colefax & Fowler—which hang on the far wall—Bob Collins & Sons textiles dressing the windows, and rose-adorned carpet underfoot.
13/21A selection of colorful gowns hang in the dressing room.
14/21In a guest bathroom, a golden yellow Fortuny wallpaper offsets a collection of green-tinted glass accessories, like a bell jar pendant light sourced from John Rosselli Antiques and an eagle-shaped decanter.
15/21Hilfiger custom-designed the matching floral-painted four-posters in the rosy pink guest room. The bed linens are from D. Porthault, the lyre back chair and bamboo etagere are from Colefax & Fowler, and the vintage American quilts were sourced from The Antique and Artisan Gallery.
16/21The floral-themed guest room features hand-printed wallpaper from Colefax & Fowler, a Dutch fruitwood marquetry mirror from Yale Burge, and a Bardith Ltd. multistemmed vase.
17/21A winding staircase is papered with a pale green floral pattern by Mauny, and the collection of antique needlepoint samplers were found at Lynda Willauer Antiques.
18/21A red-and-yellow antique-inspired Batik-print textile covers everything from the walls to the furniture in this attic bedroom.
19/21The totally black-and-white kitchen marks an aesthetic departure from the rest of the vibrant color-soaked home.
Art: Alexandria Hilfiger20/21Pops of orange, yellow, and red—in the form of drawer pulls and equestrian artwork by daughter Alexandria—animate an otherwise monochrome bathroom.
Art: Susan Crawford/Felix Rosenstiel`s Widow and Son21/21Tartan-patterned fabric from Tommy Hilfiger’s collaboration with interior textile brand Jonas was used to create this custom upholstered bed, and the checkerboard carpet was sourced from Turabian & Sariyan.
