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NEW YORK \u2014 Actor Richard Gere\u2019s historic Connecticut mansion has been razed to make way for a subdivision, months after he sold the home once owned by Paul Simon and Edie Brickell and decamped to Europe.<\/p>\n
Architectural salvage expert Reggie Young, who worked to save some of the home\u2019s stunning details from when it was built in the 1930s, confirmed the demolition<\/a> to People.<\/p>\n \u201cWe recently checked in, and the house has been taken down,\u201d Young told the outlet. \u201cWe are grateful that the buyers allowed us time to salvage and get everything out.\u201d<\/p>\n The proof was in the aerial view that People obtained showing a bare spot scraped down to the dirt where the 8,525-square-foot mansion once stood.<\/p>\n Gere bought the six-bedroom, seven-bath home<\/a> from the musicians for $10.8 million in 2022 after it had bounced on and off the market<\/a>. Simon and Brickell had lived there for just under 20 years and sold it for nearly $6 million less than they had paid<\/a>, according to CT Insider.<\/p>\n Gere had intended to convert the bulk of the 32-acre estate into a farm<\/a>, but instead sold it to a developer late last year and moved to Spain with his wife, Alejandra Silva, to be closer to her family<\/a>.<\/p>\n Built in 1938 and designed by architect Harold Reeve Sleeper<\/a>, the Georgian-style estate was chock full of period architectural details, many of them rescued by Young\u2019s historic-preservation firm, Hudson Valley House Parts. Together he and Green Circle Auctions saved a host of historical features from the wrecking ball<\/a>.<\/p>\n Young\u2019s take included a Greek revival front portico, a carved limestone mantel, steel midcentury bay windows with a nautical motif, the home\u2019s full entryway and an entire cerused<\/a> oak library, right down to the bowed fireplace and the built-in shelves<\/a> paneling the walls. There were also sets of French doors and antique bluestone. All are now being sold for use in other restoration projects.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, Young was sorry to see the 87-year-old stately Colonial go.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a real shame the house is being torn down<\/a>,\u201d he told Realtor.com<\/a>. \u201cOnce the stuff is gone, it\u2019s never coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n That sentiment was keenly felt by Simon\u2019s daughter, Lulu Simon, who blasted Gere<\/a> upon learning he\u2019s unloaded the place she called \u201cmy childhood home\u201d onto a developer rather than preserving it as she said he\u2019d promised.<\/p>\n