A 1906 Gilded Age Estate Built for a Colgate Heir Lists for $7.5M
Built between 1903 and 1906, the house was conceived by Romulus "Rome" Riggs Colgate, grandson of Colgate founder William Colgate, who took an active role in its design.
Named after Filston Park in Kent, England—an estate tied to the Colgate family—the Connecticut house carried instant Old World pedigree. It reflected a broader trend of the period, when America’s industrial elite modeled their country houses on European estates to project cultural weight and permanence.
Colgate worked with architect J. William Cromwell, Jr. and landscape architect Edward Hamilton Bell to create a residence that combined Italian Renaissance, Palladian, Neo-Gothic, and French Empire elements. Constructed of granite quarried on-site, the estate originally spanned 300 acres.
Susan Prince Colgate, Romulus’s wife, directed the interiors, incorporating French Empire and Louis XIV and XV motifs into the reception rooms and private suites. The result was a house that reflected both Romulus’s architectural vision and Susan’s decorative influence.
The 12,000-square-foot residence includes nine bedrooms, five full baths, three half baths, and eight fireplaces. The estate also contains a 5,700-square-foot carriage house, while the current 106-acre grounds feature meadows, woodland, and equestrian trails.
Recent upgrades include buried electrical lines, a new propane furnace, updated plumbing, and a commercial generator.
Ownership has mirrored broader social and economic shifts of the 20th century. After Romulus’s death in 1926 and Susan’s in 1936, the house was acquired by Edgar Ausnit, a Romanian steel magnate who had fled Europe. Ausnit became known for his gatherings in the late 1930s and 1940s that drew Hollywood and New York society—local accounts recall Cary Grant among the guests, when Sharon, Connecticut had become a discreet retreat for the cosmopolitan set.
In the 1970s, the estate passed to songwriter and producer Paul Leka, best known for co-writing the stadium anthem “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.” Leka lived at Filston until his death in 2011, using the estate as both a private residence and a creative base.
The current owners, Pablo Cisilino and Silvina Leone, purchased the property in 2014 and have carried out extensive restoration, from infrastructure upgrades to landscape renewal.
Today, Filston is one of the last intact Gilded Age estates in Litchfield County. While neighboring regions such as the Berkshires and Hudson Valley also saw a wave of country house building, many Connecticut estates of this scale have been subdivided or demolished. Properties that combine original acreage, architectural pedigree, and continuity of preservation remain exceptionally rare. Filston stands as one of the most significant surviving Gilded Age estates in Connecticut.
All photos belong to the listing agency.
