The Long Island waterfront home where Bee Gee Robin Gibb lived in the ’70s and ‘80s is back on the market, but it will set you back a whopping $17 million.
The Bee Gees were one of the most successful groups of all time, with album sales of more than 120 million and enduring singles such as ‘To Love Somebody’, ‘Massachusetts’ and ‘Holiday’.
Despite being born on the Isle of Man to English parents, Australians are happy to claim the Bee Gees as ‘one of ours’, with the Gibb brothers growing up in Redcliffe and Cribb Island, which the current site of Brisbane Airport.
Their musical contributions to 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, including ‘Staying Alive’, ‘Night Fever’ and ‘More than a Woman’, propelled the popularity of disco to new heights and sent the soundtrack to the top of the charts around the world.
By the time the 1970s rolled around, the Bee Gees were certified rock stars, so it’s little wonder Robin – who fronted the band along with brothers Barry and Maurice – was keen to find a quiet place when he wasn’t on the road or in the studio.
Fittingly, this sprawling seven-bedroom home, which is set over almost three hectares, is named Kenjockety, which is Native American for ‘Far from Noise’, according to Top Ten Property Deals.
Built in 1926, the residence was originally constructed as a wedding gift from lumber-magnate Arthur H. Fleming to his daughter, Marjorie.
The home was designed by architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, who worked on more than 30 prominent Gothic and Spanish Colonial-style buildings in the early 1900s.
Some of the renowned projects he designed include St Bartholomew’s Church in New York City, the Chapel at West Point, the Nebraska State Capitol and the Rockefeller Library at the University of Chicago.
Kenjockety offers views of Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbour across Long Island Sound and the property’s beachfront is protected by a new seawall.
The grounds contain a greenhouse, swimming pool, a one-bedroom cottage with a wood-burning fireplace, a large deepwater dock designed for large yachts, and more than 150 metres of beachfront.
The home was most recently on the market in 2011, when it was purchased by its current owner, who has spent more than $7 million on renovations over nine years despite never having lived in it.
The interior has 10 fireplaces, seven bedrooms, seven full bathrooms and three half baths.
The spacious foyer has a solid mahogany-coffered ceiling, marble-tiled floor and large fireplace.
The formal living and dining rooms both have wood-burning fireplaces and there is a winter garden room that adjoins the living room.
Walls throughout the structure have Venetian plaster, and wood used in all of the rooms is mahogany, including the custom-closet systems.
There is also a third-floor home office, a games room, and a refurbished kitchen with a breakfast room that overlooks the gardens and water.
Listing agents for the Kenjockety estate are Bonnie Williamson and Lauryn Koke of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty, Cold Spring Harbour, New York.
