34,000 SF Chalan Farm complex on sale for $18 million

Real Estate Weekly, Dec 26, 2001

A newly built and dazzling all-glass designer house -- actually a series of octagonal glass pavilions stretching more than 400 feet from front door to back -- has just gone on the market for $18 million.

On Canal Road on the outskirts of Princeton, it is one of the last of the large estates available near New York City.

Called Chalan after one of the owner's favorite horses, the two-level complex is the centerpiece of a secluded hilltop, offering absolute privacy. Christine Bianchi, broker with Insignia Douglas Elliman's Bernardsville, N.J., office, and Millard Dixon, Insignia Douglas Elliman broker based in Manhattan, are exclusive agents for the property.

The 34,000-SF residence is on 48 acres of woodland, meadows and streams, and surrounded by hundreds of other acres set aside for land conservation, parks, walking paths, trails for horseback riding and the historic Delaware & Raritan Canal. Nearby is the first residence of George Washington after he became president.

Chalan Farm was designed by architect James Kissane with huge open interior spaces. Offered ready for interior finishing, the interconnecting modules of 14-foot floor-to-ceiling glass walls, as planned by the owner and adaptable for redesign, comprise the living room, dining room, gourmet kitchen, master bedroom suite and dressing rooms, plus other open-space areas for entertaining. A glass-enclosed spa and swimming pool are located adjacent to the master bedroom suite.

Beneath the glass house are 17,000 SF carved from solid rock, offering ample space for an art gallery, gym, studio, screening room, staff quarters, a wine storage vault and interior parking for up to 10 vehicles. The sprawling complex leaves plenty of room for such add-ons as a helipad, private golf course, tennis courts and riding trails, projects that were the owner's intentions.