Actor Willem Dafoe's two-bedroom vacation house on 6.8 acres in Accord, N.Y. has been on the market for the last few months for $850,000.
Somewhat uncharacteristically, the Wall Street Journal's 'Private Properties' column reported last month on Dafoe's listing of the rubber-clad house, which Dafoe has owned since 1988. We say 'uncharacteristically,' because this was no scoop for the Journal, which prides itself on trying to only write about celebrity-owned and/or notable homes in the 'Private Properties' column that haven't been written about elsewhere. However, in this particular case, it appears that virtually every single other celebrity real estate gossip *but* the Journal (and, of course, us) has written about the house. Our friends over at the Real Estalker broke the story about the listing on June 2, and then Deidre over at Luxist made it her estate of the day on June 7. Then, Newsday's 'Real LI' real-estate blog wrote a blurb about Dafoe's house on June 11.
Now, the Journal's belated article also gives us a chance to also belatedly weigh in on Dafoe's getaway home, which we've never written about before. Built in 1981 after being commissioned for choreographer Eugene Loring, the house, at 686 County Road in Ulster County, is designed to blend into the landscape, which is why a thick skin of gray-black rubber has been stretched over the wood frame house. The house's size is up for debate. The Journal reported that the house measures 2,200 square feet, while public records call the house 1,949 square feet, with 1,206 square feet on the first floor and 743 square feet on the second floor. Features include two and a half baths, an open chef's kitchen, a living room with a wood-burning fireplace, and a deep soaking tub, according to listing information. The house is located about two hours north of New York City.
Public records show that Dafoe's former partner, director, Elizabeth LeCompte, quit-claimed her share of the house to Dafoe in 2005 for a $289,500 payment (Dafoe is shown here with his wife since 2005, Giada). They also identify the house as being in Marbletown, N.Y. We can't explain the difference (Marbletown and Accord are a decent distance down the road from one another). However, we can provide a link to listing information for the house -- complete with photos.
Dafoe's principal residence is in New York City, where he's owned plenty of properties over the years. The Real Estalker provided a nice rundown of these back in June, so we don't have a ton to add. The bottom line, though, is that Dafoe's principal residence appears to be a co-op unit in a building on Perry Street in Manhattan's West Village, which he quietly purchased in 2005 for $1,600,000. Dafoe also owns a co-op unit on Grand Avenue in Manhattan's Lower East Side that he purchased in 2005 with (and for) his adult son Jack for $606,000, and he may or may not still co-own a unit on Wooster Street that he and LeCompte had shared.