John Frank, a longtime partner of his late uncle Sidney Frank, built his dream house after selling Grey Goose to Bacardi for nearly $3 billion. Now he’s selling it.
(Bloomberg) — Sidney Frank Importing Co. is credited with popularizing Jägermeister in America, but it became a globally renowned success story when it created Grey Goose vodka in 1997 and sold it to Bacardi for “closer to $3 billion” in 2004, says Sidney’s nephew John Frank, who was vice chairman of the company at the time of the sale. “It was a win-win for the seller and the buyer, but that put some dough in my pocket, and I decided to upgrade my home.”
The result—a 17,878-square-foot mansion set on 19 acres in Greenwich, Connecticut—took four years to build. Designed in what the architect dubs the “high Georgian style,” it contains a large central building flanked by two symmetrical wings. There’s also a large pool house and an underground garage that can hold 30 cars.
Now, 14 years later, with his kids out of the house and his primary residence in Florida, Frank has decided to sell. He’s listed the house with Rob Johnson of Brown Harris Stevens for $33.8 million. “It was time to move on,” Frank says. “I’ll tell you—I’ll surely miss this house because I’ll never live as well again.”
Building the House
Frank found a property just a 10-minute drive from downtown Greenwich. Before he came along, its owners had gotten approval to subdivide it into four lots. They’d put in a central road to reach all four parcels, “and that still serves as my driveway,” he says. “We liked the idea that we could have the house set back from the road for privacy, and we used the front two lots, which are five acres each, as a buffer, to just look out on the beautiful wilds of trees and flowers.” The back of the parcel abuts the Round Hill Club’s golf course.
Through acquaintances, Frank met the architect Paul Marchese, the onetime chief architect of the World Trade Center who’d set up shop in town.
“I found him to be very creative and to have a great sense of symmetry,” Frank says. “Most importantly, he was a car nut like myself, so he could help me build a home in the style I wanted, with a great garage and a property where I could bring the cars in and out.” For instance, the architect considered the amount of land needed for a tractor-trailer to load and unload vehicles, and where to store a 40-foot-long, two-car trailer so no one would notice it.
Although Frank bought the lot in 2005, and the house wasn’t completed until 2009, much of the time was spent, he says, with permitting, planning and readying the property for construction. He says they cut down “about 20 or 30 trees” to get the property ready; he had the trees cut into boards, shipped to a kiln in New Hampshire and then, once they were ready, installed as flooring in the house.
“The entire house is notable,” he says. “The windows are all soundproofed, the walls are all twice as thick as they have to be, not only outside but internal walls as well. The quality of construction is second to none—no expense was spared.”
What’s Inside
At the time, Frank says, “I had three children at home, and I wanted it to accommodate them, and I wanted privacy, and I wanted a gym and a [golf and driving] simulator room and of course the big garage. Our wish list just sort of expanded to our dream house.”
Along with four bedrooms for himself and the kids, the house has at least three bedrooms for a staff including, he says, a live-in chef, nanny and housekeeper. (Including the pool house, the property has 10 bedrooms, 14 full baths and 5 half-baths in total.)
The ground floor is devoted to entertaining spaces. “When we lived there, we had mega parties,” Frank says. “We invited 250 people, and the house can handle it perfectly.” Guests enter a massive hall with a double staircase; there’s a dining room, library, formal living room, family room and massive entertainment room with a bar.
The second floor is devoted to bedrooms, including a primary suite with four walk-in closets that takes up an entire wing of the house. Design details include ornate custom molding in nearly every room, a marble foyer, a combination of parquet and hardwood flooring, and delicate built-in cabinets.
A gym and “playroom” occupy the entirety of the uppermost floor. But it’s the basement that most excites Frank.
“The car collection room is underneath the rear patio, outside the footprint of the house,” he says, and it was built so there would be minimal columns inside amid his collection of classic cars, which includes a variety of Porsches. (Heavy steel beams did the trick.) For everyday driving, there’s an additional three-car garage at ground level, also column-free.
Moving On
Frank and his family used the house for entertaining, but also maintained it as a private sanctuary. They drove go-karts around the looped driveway with their kids, spent summers in the massive pool (which comes with a kiddy pool and hot tub), and enjoyed the walking trails built into the property which meander through the wooded areas in the front lots. But then, he says, “it was time for me to move to a warmer temperature, and the kids are grown up.”
Speaking from his home in Florida, he sounds wistful. “When I lived there, I’d go downstairs to my car collection. Now, I have to get into a car and drive to a warehouse. And instead of the privacy I had there, the next house where I live is 18 feet away.” What won’t he miss? “The winters and the cold.”
Frank initially listed the house last July (also for $33.8 million), eventually took it off the market and now has put it back on.
“It takes time to sell a great house,” he says. “There are just not that many buyers out there looking to spend $34 million on a home.” There’s only one house in his ZIP code that’s more expensive, according to Zillow—it’s priced at an even $35 million.
That said, he continues, “The best houses always sell. Quality always wins out.”
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