Bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 5 full, 3 half
Interior: 13,619 ft² (1,265 m²)
Lot: 114.34 acres (46.27 hectares)
Features: Sculpture gardens, landscaped grounds, orchard, labyrinth, swimming pool, pool house, tennis court, guest accommodation, heated barn
In 1933, American sculptor Alexander Calder and his wife Louisa purchased an 18th-century farmhouse in Roxbury, Connecticut. It was here, among the hills of Litchfield County, that Calder began working on a larger scale, creating his monumental standing mobile Steel Fish in 1934. The surrounding countryside became a gathering place for artists and writers, including Arshile Gorky, André Masson and Arthur Miller.
Alexander Calder in studio, Roxbury, 1973 - Hartford History Center, Hartford Public Library and Connecticut History Illustrated
Nearly 70 years later, a Georgian-inspired stone mansion was completed on a hill overlooking the Shepaug River Valley. Set within 114 acres assembled from seven parcels and bordered by protected land-trust property, the estate includes extensive gardens and a collection of modern and contemporary sculpture. Now offered for sale for the first time at $12.995 million, 35 Raven Rock Road is listed with Jeffrey Jackson and Amanda Thornton of Corcoran Centric Realty.
Aristide Maillol, La Méditerranée (The Mediterranean, also known as La Pensée) Bronze, modelled 1902–1905. Developed between 1902 and 1905, the seated female figure became one of Maillol's defining compositions. A bronze version is displayed in the Jardin du Carrousel beside the Louvre in Paris, alongside 19 other works by the artist installed in 1964.
The story behind the estate's creation leads to Zena and Michael A. Wiener, who purchased the property and commissioned landscape designer Thomas Verderosa to develop its grounds.
Michael Wiener was a co-founder of Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, the American radio network he established with Gerald Carrus in 1972. Over the following two decades, the company grew into one of the country's major broadcasting groups, with 44 radio stations when it was sold to Westinghouse in 1996 for approximately $4 billion.
Wiener subsequently devoted much of his attention to philanthropy, particularly cardiovascular research, music and the performing arts. Together, the couple supported medical research at Mount Sinai in New York, where the Zena and Michael A. Wiener name is associated with cardiovascular medicine, as well as cultural and educational institutions.
The connection between the Wieners and their landscape designer is particularly interesting.
In an account published on his website, Thomas Verderosa explains that he was introduced to the couple through their friends Ben and Patricia Heller, prominent art collectors for whom he had previously worked in the Hamptons.
Ben Heller was an important early collector of American Abstract Expressionism, with a collection that included major paintings by Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman. Among them was Pollock's monumental One: Number 31, 1950, which Heller acquired directly from the artist and is now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Verderosa had developed a reputation for moving and installing exceptionally large specimen trees, working with mature plants that other landscapers considered difficult to transplant. His clients included Calvin Klein, Peter Brant and Stephanie Seymour, along with artists Willem de Kooning and Alfonso Ossorio.
Ossorio, himself an artist and collector, became an important influence on Verderosa's approach to planting. The two worked together at Ossorio's Long Island estate, The Creeks, where rare conifers and unusual foliage were used for their colour, texture and sculptural qualities.
Through the Hellers, Verderosa met the Wieners, whom he described as passionate plant collectors. They had acquired a substantial property in the Roxbury hills, much of it covered in woodland and exposed rock.
Gaston Lachaise, Dans la Nuit (Lovers) Bronze, modelled in 1935.
The commission transformed that landscape into a series of gardens incorporating mature specimen trees, an apple orchard, a labyrinth and carefully positioned sculptures and natural stone formations. Verderosa's account describes a relationship with the estate extending over more than two decades.
Today, more than 20 acres of the property are maintained as cultivated lawns and gardens, with sculptures positioned throughout the landscape.
Among the works pictured in the grounds is Dans la Nuit (Lovers), a monumental bronze composition modelled in 1935 by French-American sculptor Gaston Lachaise. Depicting a reclining couple, the work was among the artist's final major projects before his death in October of that year.
Following Lachaise's death, his friend and patron Lincoln Kirstein helped preserve the unfinished model, while Nelson Rockefeller commissioned the first bronze cast in 1938. That sculpture was later installed at Kykuit, the Rockefeller family's historic estate overlooking the Hudson River, where it remains today. The Lachaise Foundation subsequently authorised an edition of seven numbered estate casts.
The gardens also feature a bronze composition identified as Lachaise's Standing Woman (La Femme debout), modelled between 1928 and 1930. Lachaise's monumental female figures helped establish his reputation in American modern sculpture, with their exaggerated proportions and emphasis on the human form.
Another work appears to be La Méditerranée (The Mediterranean), also known as La Pensée, by French sculptor Aristide Maillol. Developed between 1902 and 1905, the seated female figure became one of Maillol's defining compositions. A plaster version was exhibited at the Salon d'Automne in Paris in 1905, and subsequent versions entered major museum collections, including the Musée d'Orsay and the Museum of Modern Art.
Elsewhere in the gardens, Raven on Acorn by American sculptor Peter Woytuk depicts a raven balanced on an oversized acorn. Woytuk is known for his bronze representations of birds and animals, with works exhibited in public spaces throughout New York, including a major installation along Broadway in 2011. His longstanding connections to Connecticut add another local dimension to the collection.
Peter Woytuk, Raven on Acorn. Bronze, date unconfirmed.
A fractured bronze sphere with a green patina has been identified as Brudt sfære med ansigter (Broken Sphere with Faces), a 2007 work by Danish sculptor Jens-Flemming Sørensen (1933–2017). Sørensen frequently explored the relationship between geometric forms and the human figure, incorporating faces and fragmented surfaces into his bronze compositions.
The sculpture collection continues indoors, where a seated couple composition by British sculptor Lynn Chadwick (1914–2003) can be seen in the entrance hall. Chadwick became one of Britain's leading postwar sculptors, recognised for his angular figures, often constructed from welded metal frameworks and subsequently cast in bronze.
His seated-couple compositions have attracted considerable interest at auction. A monumental Couple on Seat, conceived in 1984 and cast in 1985 by Morris Singer Foundry, sold at Sotheby's on 27 June 2023 for £1,984,000. The work, numbered two from an edition of six, measures more than 3 metres across.
The residence itself was completed in 2002, with a stone exterior, slate roof and Georgian-inspired architecture. Its approximately 13,600 ft² (1,265 m²) of interior space includes a marble entrance hall, formal dining room, panelled library and living room with five sets of French doors opening onto a large stone terrace overlooking the valley.
The principal rooms feature custom millwork, hardwood and marble floors, and eight fireplaces throughout the house. A professional kitchen includes Traulsen refrigeration, while a separate cooking room is equipped with charbroilers and a stone pizza oven.
The main-level primary bedroom has its own fireplace, dressing rooms and marble bathroom overlooking the pool grounds. Four additional bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms, while the finished lower level contains a gym, steam room and temperature-controlled wine cellar.
Beyond the formal gardens are a heated swimming pool and pool house, Har-Tru tennis court, pond and additional outbuildings. A covered walkway connects the main residence to a four-car garage with approximately 1,700 ft² (158 m²) of guest or caretaker accommodation above. A heated barn with loft provides further space.
The estate is situated minutes from Washington Depot and is offered through Corcoran Centric Realty. The listing does not specify whether the sculptures or other artworks are included in the sale.
35 Raven Rock Road is listed with Jeffrey Jackson and Amanda Thornton of Corcoran Centric Realty.
Jens-Flemming Sørensen, Brudt sfære med ansigter (Broken Sphere with Faces)
Bronze, 2007.
Editor's note: The artworks discussed in this article have been identified through visual research and comparison with documented works by the artists. Their individual attributions, authenticity and provenance have not been independently confirmed.
Property staging: Jason Saft, Staged To Sell Home.
Photography: Hayley Ellen Day.
