Mark Twain’s $3.9M Connecticut Estate Looking for a Twainiac

Mark Twain’s $3.9M Connecticut Estate Looking for a Twainiac

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Named after a character in a short story written by a man who once lived on the property, Stormfield is now on the market for $3.9 million.

“It’s the last home of Mark Twain. He lived there from 1908 until his death in 1910. Redding, CT, really celebrates the fact that it was the last place he lived,” says listing agent Laura Freed Ancona, with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty. “A lot of people are drawn to the area because they’re fans, and they call themselves Twainiacs.”

Fittingly located on Mark Twain Lane, the historic residence resembling a Tuscan villa offers four bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms.

“It’s very inviting and warm, spacious, and elegant, but it’s not off-putting in any way. It’s not overly formal or grand,” Ancona explains.

Historians say the house was abandoned for a time after the author, whose given name was Samuel Clemens, died. It eventually burned down in 1923.

“The home was rebuilt in 1925, but there’s still some original foundation, patios, stone walls, and the gardens,” Ancona says. “It was slightly larger than the house now, but when it burned down, whatever remains that could be salvaged were salvaged. Mark Twain never lived in the current home, but the grounds and the gardens were his.”

The main home measures 6,300 square feet, and there’s a two-bedroom guesthouse next to a gunite pool.

Twain named the property Stormfield after a summer storm he wrote about in his short story “Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven.” Published reports say profits from that story helped fund the home’s construction.

The 29-acre property is adjacent to 161 acres of protected land, much of which was part of Twain’s original estate.

“It’s everything that Mark Twain would have wanted for himself, which is a comfortable home in the country where he could entertain,” Ancona says. “The current owners were drawn to the home for the same reason as Mark Twain, which is the land. It’s just beautiful.”

The land produces maple trees and wild raspberries, some of which the owners turn into maple syrup and jam, Ancona adds.

The last time the home changed hands was in 2003, although it has been listed a few times since.

“The perfect buyer for this home is somebody that wants a real private estate. When you arrive at Stormfield, it feels like a retreat and like an escape and almost like you have stepped back in time,” Ancona says. “It’s for someone who really wants a very natural setting and something that literally has roots, not something that’s sort of new and shiny.”

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