Mel Gibson Sells Connecticut Estate for $24M

Something finally went right for Mel Gibson: The embattled actor just sold his 75-acre home in Connecticut's toniest town for a whopping $24 million.

The "Braveheart" actor, currently going through a bitter split with the woman he left his wife of 29 years for, bought the Tudor mansion and vast tract of land in 1994 for $9.3 million.

"I think it's encouraging that the high end of the market still has activity this year," local real estate agent Renee Gallagher, whose partner had the listing, told the Greenwich Time.

Gibson could need the profits soon, as he and piano-playing Russian hottie Oksana Grigorieva are headed to court to battle over custody of their seven-month old daughter Lucia. Grigorieva recently got a restaining order against Gibson, claiming the actor punched her and broke her teeth, a charge Gibson denied.

The property, known as Old Mill Farm, includes a rather indulgent and large chess set in the yard.

The house has been on the market since 2007, when it was listed for $39.5 million, and it was recently advertised for $29.7 million.

Cosette Property LLC bought the property, which includes a 16,000-square foot Tudor-style mansion that was built in 1926 for financier George Lewis Ohstrom. It also has a five-horse stable, log cabin, 60-foot swimming pool and a stream-fed pond.

Designer Tommy Hilfiger sold a nearby estate, with a 20,000-square-foot home, for $20 million last year, and earlier this year, another nearby property went for $31.4 million.

Gibson is known for snapping up land, owning an island in Fiji, properties in Australia and Costa Rica. In addition, he owns several properties in Malibu.

The Oscar-winning director and acclaimed actor has been trying to rehabilitate his image this summer with a string of new movies.  But even before he left his wife and the mother of six of his kids in 2009, his reputation was on the rocks. He was busted in 2006 for DUI, and went on an annti-semitic rant against the officer who arrested him, blaming Jews for starting wars and making a sexist comment to another, female cop.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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