An N.Y.C. Ad Exec’s Connecticut Retreat Lists for $13.8 Million

While looking for a newly built home close to New York City to serve as a weekend getaway over two decades ago, Andrew and Susan Robertson’s real estate agent suggested they check out a sprawling farmhouse in the coastal Connecticut town of Greenwich.

The couple—he most known as a high-powered BBDO Worldwide advertising executive who’s spearheaded campaigns like the “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” Snickers commercials—told The New York Times they “wandered around it, and smelled it, and felt it,” and, though it wasn’t exactly what they were looking for, they decided it was where they wanted to be.

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They went on to acquire the place in 2001 for nearly $5.8 million and then embarked upon an extensive renovation and remodeling project in collaboration with interior designer and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy TV personality Thom Filicia. Now, 24 years later, the immaculately maintained property has come to market for a dash under $13.8 million, with the listing shared by Amanda Bates Goodro of Houlihan Lawrence and Louisa Wake of Hedgerow Exclusive Properties, one of the Robertsons’ two daughters.

Realizing there was potential to better utilize the space, they updated the residence with a new two-car garage, a limestone-clad mudroom/butler’s pantry, and a 2,000-bottle wine room. They also connected a restored water tower to the house, hired Amish workers to build a barn that can be used as a second garage, and stored an emergency generator in an icehouse once used to preserve perishable foods.

Sited on a nearly six-acre parcel of heavily wooded land in the Stanwich Historic District, about an hour northeast of Manhattan, the reimagined property is anchored by a white wood-sided and shingle-roof Colonial home with six bedrooms and eight baths in roughly 9,200 square feet across three levels that still retain the original wide-plank fir floors and wood-burning fireplaces. One of a few surviving mid-19th-century farmhouses in the region, it’s listed on the Greenwich Landmarks Registry as the Elkanah Mead House.

Two separate entrances flow to elegant living and dining rooms, a media room, and a handsome library that comes with a handy dry bar converted from a closet and a lacquered ceiling that captures the flickering light of the fireplace. Other highlights include a Smallbone kitchen outfitted with oak cabinetry, marble countertops, an eat-in island, an AGA range, a wine cooler, a breakfast nook, and French doors leading outside. A spacious fireside primary suite sports a walk-in closet/dressing room and a soaking tub-equipped bath.

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One of the most special parts of the property is the James Doyle-landscaped grounds, which are laced with flower gardens and host several terraces, a 20-by-40-foot pool, an outdoor kitchen, a sitting area with an antique water trough fountain, a vegetable garden, a seasonal chicken coop, and a pond. Then there’s the rebuilt water tower, which flaunts a gym, a full bath, and a double-height office.

Per the NYT, the Robertsons have decided to move because it’s “a lot of house now” for the two of them. The former president and CEO and current chairman of BBDO, who has been named one of Adweek‘s “100 Most Influential Leaders in Marketing, Media and Tech” alongside Mark Zuckerburg, and Jeff Bezos, still owns a beachfront home in Sag Harbor, N.Y., that serves as the couple’s primary residence, as well as houses in Manhattan and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Click here for more photos of the Greenwich abode.