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3d ago

SBP Homes Advances Plan to Subdivide Paul Simon Estate as Daughter’s Instagram Rebuke Circulates

The developer’s proposal to replace the 1938 Colonial with nine homes has drawn new attention due to Lulu Simon’s accusation that Richard Gere broke his preservation pledge.

Richard Gere in April 2024 told Vanity Fair España that he and his wife planned to relocate to her native Spain to be closer to her family.
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Overview

  • SBP Homes has filed formal plans to demolish the Harold R. Sleeper–designed mansion and carve the 32-acre New Canaan property into nine residential lots.
  • Lulu Simon’s now-deleted Instagram posts accused Gere of reneging on his promise to care for her childhood home and invoked her late pets in a public appeal.
  • Gere bought the estate from Paul Simon in 2022 for $10.8 million, committing to convert it into a family farm, but sold it off-market last year for $10.75 million after moving to Spain.
  • At a 2023 Planning and Zoning Commission hearing, Gere’s lawyer assured officials the estate would not become commercial real estate, a pledge critics say has been discarded.
  • Local preservationists and neighbors warn the plan erases a piece of architectural heritage and underscore tensions over celebrity land deals and legacy stewardship.