Home Buying

Channel your inner Elsa this winter: For $35m, a modern-day castle in Conn.

The 18,777-square-foot castle boasts nine bedrooms, seven full baths, and three half baths on 75 acres overlooking a 30-acre pond.

The 18,777-square-foot castle boasts nine bedrooms, seven full bathrooms, three half bathrooms and 12 working fireplaces on 75 wooded acres overlooking a 30-acre pond. Gregory Pizzi

By Kelly Garrity -- Boston.com correspondent

November 10, 2021

3 minutes to read

With soaring turrets and a striking stone facade, 450 Brickyard Road in Woodstock, Conn., is a home fit for a king or queen – or at least anyone willing to shell out a royal sum. The estate, dubbed “Woodstock Castle,” or the “Chrismark Castle,” hit the market Nov. 6 for $35,000,000.

The 18,777-square-foot home boasts nine bedrooms, seven full bathrooms, three half bathrooms, and 12 working fireplaces on 75 wooded acres overlooking a 30-acre pond, according to the listing. To get inside, visitors can either drive around back and park in the three-car garage or ditch their vehicle at the gated entrance and travel by foot across the stone bridge, which spans a moat, of course.

The extravagant home was featured on the popular social media account @zillowgonewild, which described it as, “One of the craziest homes we’ve ever seen” in a post on Twitter.

“It’s a modern-day castle,” said listing agent John Pizzi of Randall Realtors in Norwich, Conn. “It looks like something that you would expect to tour if you went to Disneyland.”

The owner is Christopher Mark, the great-grandson of steel mogul Clayton Mark. Mark had a significant hand in designing the home, which was completed and received a certificate of occupancy in 2010, Pizzi said. Throughout the home, wood floors (made from 25 species of hardwoods imported from across the country) feature intricate inlays. Getting this variety of wood was no easy task, Pizzi said.

“Due to the difficulty getting some of these woods, [the seller] went out and bought a boat manufacturer that did custom yachts … exotic yachts made out of wood,” Pizzi said. “He bought that company out just for the ability to get the woods.”

Many of the ceilings are equally as grand, with ornate coffered designs. Some, including those in the kitchen and the foyer, are painted to look like the sky at different times of the day and night. The circular kitchen has all the amenities royalty could ask for, with a double oven, a wine cooler, and a refrigerator with wood-look double doors to match the cabinets. A pillar in the center of the room serves as a spice rack.

Throughout the home, the countertops are made of quartz and granite, Pizzi said, and one of the bathrooms has floors and walls entirely of stone. There are also medieval-style arched doors and windows throughout, and many of the parapets serve as balconies.

The castle also has a multi-level glass observatory that looks out over the pond and massive property. “It’s a big area. You can sit up there and enjoy all the scenery,” Pizzi said.

The walk-out basement is home to a separate space that could be used as an in-law apartment or maid’s quarters, according to Pizzi. There’s also an auditorium with a stage, perfect for hosting intimate performances.

Outside, a small dock is a perfect place to moor boats for paddling around on the pond or cruising through the moat.

This isn’t the first time the castle has been looking for a new king or queen. The property was on-and-off the market consistently from 2014 to 2016, with the asking price fluctuating between $45,000,000 and $32,000,000. The next owner, Pizzi said, will be someone who appreciates the home’s uniqueness and the dream behind it.

“I think everybody would like to live there for a week. for a month, but as far as making it a home, I think it’s going to be someone that would enjoy that unique type of living,” Pizzi said. “It’s a unique property in that it’s a castle, but it’s also unique in the fact that somebody lived their dream and built something that that was appealing to them and different from the norm.”

See more photos of the home below: