Great Estate

While Bedford has its share of grand mansions and manors, the $21.9 million Crowfields is the newest to come on the market. Once a dairy farm and once owned by Cass Canfield, the Harper & Row publisher/editor that signed contracts with (among other notables) James Thurber and EB White, the property is in the heart of Bedford’s historic Guard Hill.

Architect and Georgian classicist Mott Schmidt, known for the ballroom at Gracie Mansion, the Vincent Astor townhouse, as well as for designing homes for members of the Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, and Ford families, redesigned Crowfields in the 1950s. English design firm Colefax & Fowler decorated the interior.

The 1929 European manor is set on nine-plus acres of rolling hills, century-old trees, rose gardens, and an orchard. The property abuts the 62-acre Guard Hill Preserve, which has wetlands, upland forest, and trails for hikers and horseback riders.
Family squabbles can be rectified easily—send the offending member out to the 5 BR guesthouse or to room with the caretaker in the carriage house.

List Price: $21,900,000
Price/Sq Ft: $3,650
Address: 524 Guard Hill Rd, Bedford
Style: Colonial
Exterior: Stucco
7 BR, 5 full baths and 2 half baths, 6,000 sq ft
Acres: 9.2 acres
Year Built: 1929
Taxes: $117,816
School System: Bedford (Fox Lane)
Pluses: second floor study with fireplace, 5 BR Federal-Era (1780) style guesthouse, vintage carriage house including a 3 BR caretaker’s suite and five bay garage, Har Tru tennis court, pool, rose gardens, orchard, pond
Minuses: septic, basement unfinished
Listing Agent: Ghy Manning, Bedford Village (914) 234-9099; ghy10506@aol.com