News | advice | area guide

Vermont’s Most Expensive Home Is a .5M Vacation Destination in Stowe

Former beer distributor Stephen Levin and his wife, Petra, are selling their seven-bedroom vacation home in Stowe, VT, for $12.5 million. With its eight-digit price tag, it’s currently the most expensive home for sale in Vermont. If it sells for full asking price, it would be the second most expensive home ever sold in the state’s history, listing agent Wade Weathers says.

“It’s a bit like going to a magic show,” Weathers says of the 85-acre property. “It’s stunningly well done, it’s stunningly well designed. … It’s a pretty special spot in almost every category.”

The Levins designed the home as a vacation property, with two ponds (including a zip-line over one of the ponds), go-karting trails, custom miniature golf course, life-size chess board, tennis court, orchard, and outdoor shooting range. The 8,150-square-foot main home is designed to showcase the couple’s extensive, multimillion-dollar collection of American folk art. (The art is not included … but who knows?)

The home’s interior features rich wooden walls, tall ceilings, and walls of glass looking out on the backyard, the pond, and Mount Mansfield in the distance. The couple displayed American folk art in virtually every room, using museum-quality preservation techniques.

The most impressive pieces were placed in a dedicated gallery, which includes a Louvre-inspired glass pyramid for natural light.

Elsewhere, the property includes a 2,400-square-foot guest house, caretaker’s cottage, standalone studio with mountain stream running underneath it, game room, theater, exercise room, two garages, and onsite car wash. The Levins purchased the property in 2001.

“In Vermont, you have the traditional white house with green shutters and the old red barn. This is someplace you just don’t see,” Weathers says. “The excitement as you tour it is palpable. Each building is purposeful, impeccable, and beautifully done.”

Stowe is a popular vacation destination, home to two ski resorts (including one owned by the Trapp family of the “Sound of Music fame”) and the full-time home of Burton Snowboards’ founder and CEO Jake Carpenter.

The Levins made headlines in 2013 when they spent $30 million to buy a Miami mansion from former New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez.

Stephen Levin’s company, Gold Coast Beverage Distributors, was once the largest beer distributor in Florida, delivering 27 million cases of beer to 10,000 retailers in the state each year. The company was acquired in early 2015.

• For more photos and details, check out the full listing.
• Homes for sale in Stowe, VT
• Learn more about Stowe, VT

The post Vermont’s Most Expensive Home Is a $12.5M Vacation Destination in Stowe appeared first on Real Estate News & Advice | realtor.com®.

Source: Real Estate News and Advice – realtor.com » Real Estate News