Westport, Connecticut’s Former Home of Phil Donahue May Set a Record

The former Connecticut home of TV personality Phil Donahue and actress Marlo Thomas is back on the market with a $27.5 million price tag.

Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas built the home in 2007. COMPASS

Located in Westport, the waterfront mansion is the most expensive listing in the wealthy town, and if it sells for close to asking, it’ll set a sales record, too.

Another former home of Donahue and Thomas currently holds that title—the couple sold a Tudor-style home down the street in 2006 for $25 million, property records show.

Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas. Getty Images

The sellers, who could not be immediately reached for comment, bought the Beachside Avenue home from Donahue and Thomas in 2013 for $20 million, according to public records.

Records also show that the sellers own several other properties on the street, including one previously owned by Harvey Weinstein, which they purchased for a total of $16 million in 2018. They have since torn down the disgraced film producer’s former home to sell off the two lots it was built on—one is listed for about $10 million, while the other sold in May for $8.5 million.

The primary bathroom has sleek, white features. COMPASS

Meanwhile, the newly listed shingle-style house sits on nearly 6.6 acres with 400 feet of water frontage along the Long Island Sound.

“There are no other properties with the expanse of land, amount of waterfront and level of luxury home available for purchase,” said Leslie Clarke of Compass, who listed the home last week. “Beachside Avenue is a coveted address and it’s rare for properties to come on the market.”

Large windows across the home look out at the water. COMPASS

The home, built in 2007 by Donahue and Thomas, spreads across 11,450 square feet and has five bedrooms, five full bathrooms and a half-bath. It was designed “for each room to take full advantage of the great lawn and water views, with indoor-outdoor flow considered throughout the entire main floor,” Clarke said.

The kitchen has been remodeled. COMPASS

The spacious primary suite—which the sellers “extensively” renovated, along with the kitchen, Clarke said—has a bedroom with a vaulted barn wood ceiling and surrounded by water views, a sitting room, a dressing room and a sleek, white bathroom with a soaking tub that also looks out at the water. There’s also a guest wing with a separate entrance, which houses two of the additional bedrooms.

There’s a clay tennis court. COMPASS

Other features on the property include a full-size clay tennis court, a guest house, a home gym and four garages, plus a covered bay.

The main floor emphasizes indoor-outdoor flow. COMPASS

The home was briefly listed for $28 million for three months in 2020, according to listing records.

The primary suite, which has a bedroom with a vaulted ceiling and water views, was renovated by the sellers. COMPASS