Typically Los Angeles is synonymous with the music industry. But the late Jim Steinman, an award-winning songwriter, lyricist, and record producer, called Ridgefield, Connecticut home for nearly 30 years. The estate, including Steinman’s collections and items within it, have hit the market for the creative and thoughtful price of $5,555,569. The repetitive 555s in the price represents new beginnings, while the 69 reflects the year Steinman graduated from Amherst College (the school also awarded him an honorary doctorate), according to Mansion Global.
The music icon bought the property for $424,500 in 1993, but spent over $6 million renovating it from a 1920s colonial-style cottage into the home it is today. The house and studio space now spans 6,183 square feet on one-and-a-half acres. Set up more for creativity than for ample overnight visitors, it is composed of two bedrooms, two full baths, and two half-bathrooms. Despite the price tag, it seems pretty priceless to sit behind the exact Yamaha piano where Steinman wrote Bonnie Tyler’s hit single “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.”
In April 2021, Steinman passed away at age 73, but through this home (and the music he produced inside of it) he leaves behind his legacy. Steinman’s manager and executor of the estate, David Sonenberg, told Mansion Global that the proceeds from the sale will fund a new charity called Rockman Philharmonic. Included in the sale are the musician’s platinum and gold records, designer wardrobe, art, and furniture.
Laura Ancona of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty holds the special listing.