Richard Gere’s $10.75 Million Historic Connecticut Estate Is Torn Down, but Parts of It Have Been Salvaged

Actor Richard Gere's historic New Canaan, CT, house has been completely torn down, according to the firm that salvaged many unique parts of the home.

"We recently checked in, and the house has been taken down,” salvage company owner Reggie Young told People. “We are grateful that the buyers allowed us time to salvage and get everything out.”

An aerial photograph confirmed that 82 Brookwood Lane is now just an empty parcel of land.

In May, Realtor.com® exclusively revealed that Hudson Valley House Parts of Newburgh, NY, had been called in to salvage parts of the 1938 six-bedroom brick Colonial.

"It's so important that the developers allowed the project to be salvaged," Young said.

The "Pretty Woman" actor sold the 32-acre property to SBP Homes for $10.75 million in November, when Gere, his wife, Alejandra Silva, and their two sons moved to Spain.

The developer is turning the area into a nine-lot subdivision ranging in size from 2.2 to 4.8 acres. It is the largest new subdivision in New Canaan since 2007, according to CT Insider.

The lots will be sold empty, so people can build their dream homes on them.

"We’re very excited about this project. From the beginning, our goal was to thoughtfully accommodate a wide range of interests in how the property would be developed," SBP Homes project manager Adam Sherer said in a statement.

Saving parts of the historic house

"It's a real shame the house is being torn down," Young exclusively told Realtor.com. "Once the stuff is gone, it's never coming back."

Only, some of it did come back—and will see a reprieve from the landfill.

Young explained that many parts of the house were at Delaware Valley House Parts in Lambertville, NJ. But the salvager had also told Realtor.com that other parts of the home had already been sold. (Other parts of the home were also rescued by Green Circle Auctions.)

Quickly snapped up was the doorway with fanned glass and Egyptian columns, which Young believed was original to the house. It will have a new home in a Colonial Revival in Indiana.

A white marble fireplace mantel also went in no time, sold to someone in New Orleans.

"Mantels are popular," Young said. Though he did not say what price it was sold for, "a good marble mantel usually goes for $4,000 to $8,000."

The company recently shared a video of Gere's old stone patio on Instagram.

"One of the last remaining pieces from the Paul Simon/Richard Gere estate that is still available," says the video. "This bluestone octagonal patio has an exceptional patina. Completely removed, palletized and ready for install on your terrace."

Other parts of the home that were salvaged included two steel nautical-motif, midcentury bay windows; a limestone mantel and a marble mantel; Colonial window sashes; a complete cerused oak library with a bowed fireplace and wall paneling with built-ins; exterior stone steps with an iron railing and a portico; and an entire entryway with the arched jamb, door surround, and paneled walls.

Also rescued was the bluestone edge of the home's koi pond.

Young had told Realtor.com that the famous lineage of the house—it was owned by legendary musician Paul Simon before Gere bought it—wouldn't necessarily move the salvaged items any faster.

"It can pique interest. But in terms of sales, there's a very specific buyer for this kind of thing," he said.

The celebrity connection "is fun and sexy, but at the end of the day, it is the quality, design, and style that will sell something."

Slower to find a new home will be the oak library with bowed fireplace, priced at $9,500, given its size.

"The measurements have to be right, and someone will have to build a chimney for it," he said.

But he noted that salvaged materials tend to be of higher quality than newer ones.

"People are realizing that the old stuff was built to last—even wood," he said.

"The wood now isn't old growth, so it's going to rot out. My friends bought mahogany doors, and within two years, they were rotting."

While Young is passionate about salvaging architectural history, he is also actively seeking a buyer for his company with a view toward retirement.

The controversial teardown

The teardown of the 87-year-old Colonial wasn't without controversy. Probably the most vocal was Simon and Edie Brickell's daughter, Lulu, who slammed the actor on her Instagram page.

"Just in case anyone was wondering if I still hate Richard Gere—I do!" she wrote alongside a picture of herself flashing a peace sign at the camera in a since-deleted post.

Simon and Brickell had purchased the house three years before Lulu was born, so she understandably had a strong attachment to her childhood residence.

She claimed the "Chicago" actor had "promised" to "take care" of the property when he bought it in 2022—only to "never actually move in."

"He bought my childhood home," she went on. "Promised he would take care of the land as [a] condition of his purchase. Proceeded to never actually move in and just sold it to a developer as nine separate plots.

"Hate! Him!" she concluded the post, which also featured a news story about Gere's latest real estate deal.

Lulu continued her tirade with a rather eerie warning for Gere, sharing an image of the actor surrounded by photos of her late pets.

"I hope my dead pets buried in that backyard haunt you until you descend into a slow and unrelenting madness," she wrote.

Both posts were deleted around 18 hours after they were first posted.

According to records, Simon bought the property in 2002 for $16.5 million. Gere bought the property from Simon through an LLC in July 2022—scoring the home for a sizable discount. The singer-songwriter had listed it for a whopping $13.9 million; however, the actor paid just $10.8 million, records reveal.

While Gere, his wife, and their kids moved to Spain 10 months ago, to be closer to Silva's family, they have reportedly since returned to the U.S.

Gere, 75, was pictured strolling through John F. Kennedy Airport on Aug. 7 with a suitcase in tow, keeping a low profile in sweatpants, a T-shirt, and a baseball cap.