$25M Westport Waterfront Estate: Pool, 7 Acres, Legendary Past

This four-bedroom, five-bathroom house at 66 Beachside Ave. has its own beach and a guest house, along with a pool, greenhouse and potting shed, according to its Web page on Zillow.com (which is where the pictures and much of the information for this article were found).

Once home to heiress Ruth Bedford (herself an institution in town, who lived modestly — except for the old family house — and drove a humble Oldsmobile), the estate was in her family for 100 years. Members of the family, including Ruth, sometimes landed seaplanes on Long Island Sound not far from the house.

When Bedford passed away earlier this year she surprised her alma mater, the Foxcroft School in Virginia, with a $40-million bequest. The Bedford family also founded what became the Westport-Weston Family Y, and has supported it for generations. Edward T. Bedford, grew up poor in town, made his fortune and then lived a grand life on this estate, which once consisted of hundreds of acres.

Built in 1900, the house has 4,097 square feet — all for a mere $25 million.