Selling Rosslyn?!

You read that right. Rosslyn is on the market! Almost two decades after falling head over heals in love with an historic home, boathouse, carriage barn, and icehouse on the Adirondack Coast of Lake Champlain, and eighteen years after swapping Manhattan for Essex and embarking on this transformative adventure, we’re selling Rosslyn.

Over the last few years I’ve reflected frequently on this gradually evolving, slowly coalescing transformation. At last Susan and I have decided that we’re ready for selling Rosslyn.

These times of transition are both beautiful and bittersweet, vividly lived and yet achingly ephemeral. Like seeds of seasonality, sown, germinating, and hastening toward harvest, toward hibernation, they begin to blur mesmerizingly. I strive to slow and savor the stanzas, to make memories that will endure, to live intentionally and indelibly, to feel fully even when the highs subside into moments of melancholy. (Source: Times of Transition)

If you’re intrigued (or know somebody else who might be), you can link to the listing on Zillow.com and Realtor.com. As for selling Rosslyn, the journey has only just begun. I’ll keep you posted as we navigate this next chapter.

Property Description

Nestled on 61+ acres along Lake Champlains Adirondack Coast, Rosslyn blends historic charm with modern luxury. This in-town country estate underwent a meticulous 18-year restoration, preserving its circa 1820 Federal/Georgian architecture with Greek Revival elements. The compound encompasses four 19 th century buildings: a six-bedroom, six-bath 6,800 sq ft main home, a large carriage barn, a renovated ice house with full bath and office loft, and an iconic boathouse along 255 feet of landscaped, sandy beach waterfront with grounding panoramic lake and mountain views. In addition, the offering includes a deeded building right for an additional residence.

The complete restoration is a marriage of poetry and design between writer and green designer owners. The home retains a rare blend of original post-colonial layout and period-appropriate, bespoke details with non-toxic and FSC certified materials. Rosslyn boasts four finished stories, nine fireplaces, wood and marble floors, a chef’s kitchen, radiant heat, a 2,000 bottle wine cellar, fitness room, four private view-filled bedrooms with en-suite baths, and two flex rooms.

Outdoor entertainment venues abound with over 3,300 sq ft of furnished decks and terraces. 4+acres of sprawling fenced-in grounds feature an heirloom orchard, perennial flower beds, organic vegetable garden, grapevines, and hand-cut 19 th century local stone walls and terraces. Year round on-property activities include swimming, paddling, gardening, hiking, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing, amidst private waterfront, and nature trails in meadows and woodlands, all in a personal wildlife sanctuary.

Located on Merchant Row in historic Essex, NY, Rosslyn is a turn-key oasis, steps away from the idyllic town center, a short ferry ride to Vermont, and 90 minutes from Montreal. Rosslyn offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a piece of living history on the nation’s 6 th largest lake. (Source: 2783 Essex Rd, Essex, NY 12936 | MLS #203010 | Zillow)

Is Rosslyn *Really* for Sale?

Yes. We’re *really* selling Rosslyn. It’ll probably take a while to find the perfect match for this remarkable property, but we feel confident that the right family is out there searching for this opportunity as we were back in 2004-6.

Still not 100% confident that we’re *really* ready to be selling Rosslyn? Fair. We’ve deliberated plenty over the years — remember we only set out to own this property for 2-4 years at the outset! — and we’ve repeatedly postponed our decision, still too smitten to say goodbye. As for that May 16, 2011 post, “Rosslyn for Sale“, it wasn’t a “test balloon” but a prematurely abbreviated recollection of Susan and my second visit to Rosslyn with our realtor way back in 2004 or 2005 when we were first daydreaming about this property. Perhaps that’s a little confusing, if you stumbled upon it, but now it should make a little more sense? Likewise with “Hyde Gate For Sale“, a post that showcased an April 1910 offering looong before we even owned Rosslyn (aka Hyde Gate, The Sherwood Inn, etc.).

But this time we’ve definitely come to a decision with which Susan and I are comfortable. Heck, I’ve been blogging every single day for over two years, often explicitly working through this decision! Remember this?

[I was] attempting to grapple substantively with beginning to imagine our lives post Rosslyn… Be brave. Court courage. Leap! But… my post drifted into a milk toast muddle more intent on understanding the backstory than leaping boldly into a new adventure. And so today I revisit the original impetus. Untethering… Again. And again. In order to, soon if I’m successful, convince myself that I’m ready, that we, Susan and I, are ready to untether from our home of seventeen and half years in order to start fresh. (Source: Untethering Revisited)

Bring on the adventure. We’re ready and committed to selling Rosslyn when she finds her perfect match.