It started out as a holiday cottage on the United States Atlantic coast but was transformed into a sprawling Tudor-style mansion.
Fairholme, which is on the market for US$17.9 million (Dh65.7m), once attracted guests to match its grandeur. But the home in Newport, Rhode Island, is now looking for a new owner to help it recapture its glory days.
The property looks like it could easily be found in the English countryside and was built in 1875 for wealthy arts patron and engineer Fairman Rogers.
It was bought two decades later by another Philadelphia family, the Drexels, who enlarged and updated it, adding a ballroom and tower. They threw parties for wealthy American families including the Vanderbilts, the Astors and Van Beurens. The estate was then acquired by a count and countess, who sold it to the industrialist railroad magnate Robert Young and his wife Anita. The couple mixed in high society circles and were close to the British Duke and Duchess of Windsor, who visited the estate frequently. Another friend of theirs, John F Kennedy, often swam in the property's swimming pool.
The 20,000 square foot main property has ample room to host 21st century high society, featuring 16 bedrooms.
The second and third floors include nine bedrooms and two master suites complete with sitting rooms, offices and dressing rooms, offering views of the Atlantic. A staff wing featuring seven bedrooms.
A carriage house on the estate offers further accommodation and there is parking for five cars.
As well as the swimming pool there are two heated marble bath houses.
twitter: Follow and share our breaking business news. Follow us
iPad users can follow our twitterfeed via Flipboard - just search for Ind_Insights on the app.
