Nick Churton of Mayfair International Realty is almost lost for words after visiting a sensational home close to the heart of Greenwich, Connecticutt.

Broker: Houlihan Lawrence

Agents: BK Bates and Ginny Hamilton

Superlatives are tricky things in real estate. If you squander them easily to over-describe a home which is merely very good then what do you use for a home that is truly exquisite?

By any measure 11 Mayfair Lane Greenwich, Connecticut is exquisite. Words like attractive, spacious, delightful and impressive have no place here. ‘Exceptional’ does.

Take 13 acres close to the centre of Greenwich and create a magnificent landscape, using rock outcrops to punctuate the grassy space, through which the drive winds dramatically under a canopy of fine trees to a stately and beautifully placed stone chateau. It is a master class in landscape architecture. It is living theatre. Andropogon Associates of Philadelphia, whose committed principle is ‘designing with nature’, had the stagecraft and the vision. And it is a vision.

Then who would have thought that a modern, high-tech and minimalist approach to interior design could work so brilliantly within the highly traditional form of a robust, French-styled manor house originally built in 1930? In 1998 design duo, Bray-Schaible did. In fact they were years ahead of their time. Many other designers are now rushing to catch up. In the world of Greenwich real estate today, sleek sells. And this house is sleek, and it is magnificent, and it is grand, and it is romantic and it is exquisitely comfortable. Architectural Digest certainly regarded it so and wrote a major article in their October, 1999 issue to celebrate it all. And if anything this home has improved with age and loving use.

So if you seek a house of superlatives, and not of lesser terms, then this is the perfect place.