Nestled in the heart of one of Connecticut’s wealthiest areas is a renovated home that now can be yours for $11.5 million.
Located along the leafy Aiken Road, this beautifully renovated mansion was first built in 1950 and thoughtfully renovated by celebrity-loved architect and interior designer Marmol Radziner from 2020 to 2024. The firm is known for working with A-list celebrities, including Bradley Cooper, Tom Ford, Ellen DeGeneres, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Anthony Kiedis, to name a few. The Los Angeles-based firm is known for their modern, yet organic approach to design, incorporating native landscaping and indoor-outdoor living whenever possible. The property spans 4.4 acres and spans 6,755 square feet with four bedrooms, four full bathrooms, and one half bathroom.
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The living room.
Daniel Milstein
They renovated the home to connect with nature during all four seasons, be it through large windows, massive skylights, an organic color palette, or interior greenery. The home has a clean and relaxed aesthetic, featuring bespoke elements the firm is known for, like French oak flooring, lime plaster walls, and high-quality marble and stone. There’s a clean California-style aesthetic with light colors, gracious rooms, high ceilings, and oversized windows that flood the rooms with natural light. The home’s grand foyer has a custom circular overhead skylight.
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The hidden bar.
Daniel Milstein
Further inside the home is the sumptuous living room with arched French doors that frame the views of the reflection pool. It has a marble fireplace and a bar hidden behind sliding doors that are adorned with plant-inspired de Gournay wallpaper. Nearby is the custom chef’s kitchen with soapstone countertops, state-of-the-art appliances, and an eat-in kitchen island. Throughout the residence there are wide-plank floors and custom cabinetry. There’s also a light-filled breakfast nook opposite a pair of French doors that open to the backyard.
The kitchen.
Daniel Milstein
The entire home has a tranquil and serene vibe. Other rooms include a sunroom with a vaulted white-washed cedar ceiling, a gas fireplace, and recessed bookcases; a family room; den/library; office; mudroom; laundry room; and a powder room. The primary suite is situated on the main level and has two closets, a spa-like bathroom, two vanities, and a water closet. You access the upstairs via a sculptural curved staircase off of the foyer, which is awash in natural light due to the skylight. There are additional en suite bedrooms upstairs that overlook the lush backyard.
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The guest house.
Daniel Milstein
It would be hard to leave this property in the summer months. A 1920s pool house was transformed into a living/dining space in 2024. There’s also an abstract pool. The airy space has vaulted wood-beamed ceilings, a kitchenette with a copper sink and refrigerator drawers, and a full bathroom. There’s also a two-bedroom, two-story guest house at the back of the property that has a large living room, fireplace, a kitchen with a breakfast room, powder room, and two upstairs bedrooms with a full bathroom, and a quiet stone terrace.
There’s also a detached two-car garage next to the guest cottage. The property has lush landscaping and an outdoor water feature. The home is listed by Joanne Mancuso of Houlihan Lawrence’s Greenwich brokerage.
Have you still seen a lot of mini-liquor bottles, littering the streets in Connecticut?
Members of one environmental group said they still see them, and believe a ban is the best way to solve a multi-tiered problem.
State data shows in the past 12 months, ending September 30, there were more than 93 million mini-liquor bottles sold in our state.
The group supporting local bans says it’s not just the litter, but also the fact mini-liquor bottles are easy to conceal and consume on the job, in the car, or at school.
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The group “Connecticut Towns Nixing the Nip” met this week, working on strategies to get a legislative hearing on the issue in the upcoming 2026 session.
Right now, stores collect a 5-cent surcharge for every mini-liquor bottle sold, resulting in about $5 million annually for town and city environmental cleanup efforts.
Town funding from nip sales
Average revenue per year 2021 to 2025.
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“Having talked to a number of towns, well a few towns, they like the money, said Tom Metzner, a member of the group. “It’s fairly broad in how it can be used. It’s environmental. It doesn’t have to be used for cleaning up nips. And so the towns have become somewhat silent on the issue of banning nips.”
The group cited Chelsea, Massachusetts, where minis are banned, both litter and alcohol related EMS calls decreased.
The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut, which devised the “nickel per nip” program, said banning the mini-liquor bottles would be unprecedented.
Instead, it said the environmental group should be challenging municipalities to prove they actually use the money for cleanup.
Legislative leaders suggested several years ago the way to really do this is to have a redemption program for mini liquor bottles, and now, that could be possible.
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At least one state with the Clynk bottle collection program has redeemed mini-liquor bottles for cash.
The company just announced a major expansion in our state, but it told us it is not aware of a redemption program for mini-liquor bottles here any time soon.
National trust in the federal government is at some of its lowest levels in nearly seven decades, and many Connecticut residents fall in line with that belief, a survey found.
New data from the Pew Research Center found only 17% of Americans believe that what the government does is right either “just about always” or “most of the time,” hitting one of the lowest points Pew has seen since first asking this question in 1958. And according to a DataHaven survey, Connecticut residents trust the federal government less than state or local institutions.
While these are some of the lowest polling numbers seen in American history, national trust in the federal government has been on the decline for decades. Public trust initially dropped in the 1960s and ’70s during the Vietnam War from a near 80% but began rising again in the 1980s into the early ’90s. Trust peaked again after 9/11 before falling.
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The DataHaven survey found that of all Connecticut residents surveyed, only 9% trust the federal government “a great deal” to look out for the best interests of them and their family. About 28% trust the federal government “a fair amount.”
Federal government trust among Connecticut residents was at its highest in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the federal stimulus programs and child tax credit were active.
The DataHaven survey also asked about trust in local and state government. Connecticut residents generally trust these institutions more than they trust the federal government, the survey found.
Trust in the local governments was higher than trust in both state and federal, with 67% of residents surveyed trusting their local government “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”
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And when it came to state government, 61% of residents trust the state “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”
However, across the board, white residents are more likely to trust local and state government than are residents of color. Black residents had higher levels of trust in government than Latino and Puerto Rican residents, but less than white residents.
As of early 2025, the Connecticut State Police was facing a staffing shortage of roughly 300 troopers compared to the more than 1,200 troopers the department had in its ranks over a decade ago. This is due largely to retirements, resignations and a shrinking applicant pool.
Recent academy classes are helping slowly rebuild staffing, but Gov. Ned Lamont and police leadership say Connecticut still needs substantially more troopers to meet public safety demands. More recently, news outlets reported the department had 938 troopers.
This spring, troopers negotiated a 4.5% wage hike with state officials. Troopers’ base pay is on average about $116,000 per year, but that rises to $175,000 per year once overtime is included.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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CT Mirror partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims.
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Reginald David is the Community Engagement Reporter for CT Mirror. He builds relationships across Connecticut to elevate community voices and deepen public dialogue around local issues. Previously, he was a producer at KCUR 89.3, Kansas City’s NPR station, where he created community-centered programming, led live event coverage for major events like the NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Parade, and Royals Opening Day, and launched KC Soundcheck, a music series spotlighting local and national artists. Reginald has also hosted special segments, including an in-depth interview with civil rights leader Alvin Brooks and live community coverage on issues like racial segregation and neighborhood development. He began his public media career as an ‘Integrity in News’ intern at WNPR in Hartford.
