'How you say VT celeb?'

Ted Cohen/Patch.com

ARLINGTON, VT - Embattled actor Alec Baldwin, who beelined for the Vermont countryside last year in the wake of his killing a camerawoman on a movie set, has purchased a retreat here that includes a farmhouse and 50 acres.

The Bennington Banner reports the principal broker described the property that includes a historic farmhouse built before 1800 and a guest cottage as “just gorgeous.”

Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria, drew media interest when they visited Vermont last fall after a gun the actor was holding discharged and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a New Mexico movie set.

Baldwin was unavailable for comment about the purchase.

Vermonters and residents of neighboring New York who read about Baldwin's coming to Vermont were inhospitable, judging from a number of comments on the Facebook article.

"He needs to have eyes in the back of his head. There are some who don't use props in Vermont," commented Marlene Riley Daniels of Wilmington, N.Y.

The Banner said the property on Ice Pond Road sold for $1.75 million.

The farmhouse was described in an ad as a “classic Vermont 18th century farm that features 55 beautiful acres, a 3,600-square-foot main house, and a nicely renovated 1,800-square-foot guest cottage with two baths.”

There also are “numerous outbuildings, updated horse stalls, several pastures, expansive landscaped lawn areas, pleasant views and a pond with a picturesque waterfall spillway” and “substantial renovations that have taken place in recent years.”

Baldwin and his wife - she having become infamous for faking Spanish roots only later to become unmasked as having been born in Boston - beelined to Arlington last fall after the shooting on the movie set. At the time, Baldwin, hounded by the press, stopped his car and held a roadside news conference, memorable for his twice scolding his wife for trying to get in her two cents.

The Baldwins have strong connections to the area. Alec Baldwin’s wife’s grandfather established roots in Arlington and was a prominent resident. David Lloyd Thomas Sr., of Arlington and Massachusetts, died on March 2, 2020, at the age of 92.

Thomas and his wife, Mary Lou, traveled to Arlington to research genealogical roots and found that his family’s connection to the area predated the American Revolution, according to the published obituary. They ended up purchasing a summer cottage and later a farmhouse in East Arlington, and made the area their home while spending time in New York City and Massachusetts.