Mary Tyler Moore’s Connecticut residence is still available for $18.9 million after a $3 million price cut in April. The late actress and her husband, Dr. S. Robert Levine, acquired the approximately 7-acre Greenwich estate for roughly $10 million in 2006. Levine disclosed that the decision to sell the house was “extremely difficult” but necessary for him to move forward following his wife’s passing in 2017 at the age of 80.
Mary Tyler Moore’s Greenwich, Conn., home is listing for $21.9 million.
“It’s Mary’s home,” explained Levine, a retired cardiologist. “In contemplating my next steps, I realized I needed to distance myself from the house.”
The Georgian-style mansion, believed to have been constructed in the late 1800s, boasts amenities such as a spa, a double-height solarium, and a billiards room, according to Levine.
The couple spent about three years renovating the house.
When the couple purchased the property, they were maintaining residences on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue and a 150-acre horse farm in Millbrook, New York. They sought to simplify their lives, with Greenwich offering the perfect blend of privacy and proximity to amenities.
“It was both secluded and secure, yet conveniently close to Greenwich Avenue,” Levine remarked. “We couldn’t fully detach from Manhattan. Mary needed her occasional dose of window shopping.”
The couple embarked on an extensive renovation project spanning approximately three years to transform the fieldstone house, preserving only the front facade. “It resembled a movie set,” Levine recalled.
A formal dining room features a chandelier that moved with Moore from house to house, her husband said.
They repurposed much of the original stone in the new construction and sourced matching fieldstone from local quarries for an extension, drawing inspiration from the architecture of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s estate in Virginia, incorporating round windows and rails. Overall, they nearly doubled the property’s size from around 7,500 square feet to approximately 14,000, with the project’s cost closely aligning with the current asking price, according to Levine.
The primary suite has its own wing.
“This wasn’t about maximizing returns,” he emphasized. “It was about creating a haven for Mary, tailored to her vision of the perfect retreat.”
In the foyer, featuring a grand sweeping staircase and harlequin-patterned floors, they added a wall of windows overlooking the garden and a skylight above the stairs to flood the space with natural light.
The house spans about 14,000 square feet.
For Moore, a trained dancer, they included a gym equipped with a ballet barre and floor-to-ceiling mirrors. The spa area boasts a massage room, Jacuzzi, and sauna, while the expansive outdoor pool completes the property’s leisure offerings.
The house has a double-height solarium. Some of the windows are stained glass salvaged from churches and synagogues.
One of the residence’s standout features is the solarium, adorned with stained-glass windows salvaged from old churches and synagogues, serving as Mary’s tranquil retreat during her final years of declining health due to diabetes, as noted by Levine.
“It was Mary’s sanctuary, where she spent much of her time when mobility became more challenging,” he reminisced. “That space held special significance for her.”
Inspired by Moore’s childhood memories of her grandfather’s billiards room in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, they created a similar space, adorned with books her father read to her as a child, showcased on the shelves.
Nestled in its own wing, the primary suite features dual dressing rooms, with Moore specifically requesting a closet spanning 100 linear feet to accommodate her extensive wardrobe, Levine revealed.
The residence was meticulously crafted to showcase Moore’s extensive collections of antiques, folk art, and Americana, according to her husband. “It wasn’t just a home; it was a gallery for all her cherished possessions, allowing her to be surrounded by the things she adored,” he explained.
Levine mentioned that a portion of the proceeds from the sale will be allocated to support the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative, a foundation dedicated to preserving and restoring vision in individuals with diabetes.
Moore rose to fame in the 1960s portraying Laura Petrie on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and received an Oscar nomination for her performance in the 1980 film “Ordinary People.”
Joseph Barbieri, the listing agent from Sotheby’s International Realty, emphasized the sustained demand for luxury properties in Greenwich, highlighting the challenge buyers face due to the limited inventory. He pointed out that last month, Copper Beech Farm, an approximately 50-acre estate in Greenwich, fetched $138.83 million, establishing a record as the most expensive home ever sold in the state.
