This NYC heiress Cold War retreat in Connecticut that she expanded but never lived in has listed for $25.5M

In New Canaan, Connecticut, lies an expansive estate with a Cold War past — and a story as mysterious as the woman who once owned it.The late, and eccentric, heiress Huguette Clark, the reclusive daughter of the copper tycoon William A.

Clark, purchased a large property there in 1951, intending it to serve as a sanctuary for her family and friends in the event of a Soviet attack on New York City.Yet, despite expanding the grounds, Clark never once furnished the residence or even lived there, according to the 2013 biography “Empty Mansions.” Now, after a major renovation by its current owners, the fashion designer Reed Krakoff and his interior designer wife Delphine, the estate is listed for $25.5 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Clark, who spent the last 20 years of her life in a Manhattan hospital — refusing to leave after being admitted for an illness — passed away in 2011 at the age of 104.The main residence occupies some 14,300 square feet and holds nine bedrooms with multiple fireplaces.

It also comes with a two-bedroom caretaker’s cottage and another guest house turned into a gym.Delphine Krakoff recalled how the couple stumbled upon the sprawling property after reading about Clark in “Empty Mansions.” “We Googled the house out of sheer curiosity to see what it looked like,” she told the Journal.

That curiosity turned into a purchase, as the Krakoffs — who were then living in Manhattan and owned the Hamptons estate where Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis spent her childhood summers — couldn’t resist the allure of the Connecticut retreat.“We fell under its spell,” Delphine said, adding that her Parisian upbringing made her feel a connection to Clark, who had also spent part of her childhood in France.

“We felt a lot of connection to her story.” In 2014, the Krakoffs acquired the estate for $14.3 million.Though the property had been left uninhabited since Clark’s long-before purchase, it was remarkably well-mainta...