Richard Gere was part of the celebrity exodus of 2024, only his move wasn’t a direct response to the election. His wife, Alejandra Silva, is from Spain, and they were already planning to relocate to be closer to her family. At the time Gere said of his wife, “she gave me about seven years here, so we’re going to spend some years in Madrid with her family.” That’s a lovely, fair sentiment, and makes me think of another husband who’s overdue to spend 20 years in Slovenia. Anyway, what I didn’t realize was that the Connecticut home Gere sold for just under $11 million last October, was previously owned by Paul Simon. I also didn’t realize that Gere and his family didn’t ever really move in? At least that’s what Simon’s daughter Lulu alleges, along with the fact that Gere’s 2024 sale of the home to developers was a violation of the conditions of Gere’s 2022 purchase of the property. Lulu is making no bones about her feelings on how Gere has taken care of (or not) her childhood home:
“Just in case anyone was wondering if I still hate Richard Gere — I do!” Simon wrote in an Instagram story posted on Tuesday.
The singer, 30, claimed that the Golden Globe-winning star vowed to “take care” of the 31.8-acre estate in New Canaan as part of the conditions when he purchased the mansion in 2022.
“He bought my childhood home,” Simon said. “Promised he would take care of the land as [a] condition of his purchase. Proceeded to never actually move in & just sold it to a developer as 9 separate plots.”
The daughter of the Simon & Garfunkel hitmaker didn’t go into details about the alleged agreement.
Lulu, who has just over 2.5K monthly listeners on Spotify, continued her social media rant when she posted an edited photo that showed her old childhood pets surrounding an image of Gere.
“I hope my dead pets buried in that backyard haunt you until you descend into a slow and unrelenting madness,” Simon captioned the post.
…Both the 16-time Grammy winner Paul Simon and Gere, 75, took a loss during their separate sales of the 8,800-square-foot mansion.
The “Sound of Silence” singer and his wife, singer Edie Brickell, bought the home where he “recorded many of his hit albums” for $16.5 million in 2002, according to Town & Country.
In 2019, the couple tried to sell the Georgian-style estate for $13.9 million. The asking price fluctuated for three years until the “Chicago” star purchased the estate for $10.8 million in 2022, The Post reported.
The main home has six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, three powder rooms and multiple fireplaces.
The property also featured a separate 2,400-square-foot guest house, a pond, a pool and a courtyard.
Gere had planned to turn a portion of the property into a farm, according to Realtor.
After owning the property for only two years, Gere and his wife, Alejandra, took a slight loss on the property and sold the house in an off-market deal to real estate developers for $10.75 million in October 2024.
If taking care of the estate and not selling to developers really were conditions of the 2022 sale to Gere, I have a couple questions: were these conditions verbal or in writing, and if in writing, then why aren’t the Simons suing? Ultimately, as this case shows, I think it’s hard to retain any control or say in a home… that you’ve sold. It’s not yours anymore! On the other hand, homes, especially childhood ones, are emotional places. So what do we think — is this righteous indignation on Lulu’s part, or her just not letting go? I never really got upset when my parents sold the house I grew up in, but that might have been because they were so upset over the fallout of the sale that I felt I had to keep my sh-t together so at least one of us was steady. (Here’s a tip they learned the hard way: don’t hire your realtor from the line you’re standing on to order a cheeseburger. I’m not even joking.) I gotta hand it to Lulu, though, cause “I hope my dead pets buried in that backyard haunt you until you descend into a slow and unrelenting madness,” is an EPIC burn. Not quite “Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping,” but a biting poetry of its own, nonetheless.
Photos via Instagram/Lulu Simon and Page Six and credit Getty
It’s sad and I understand her.
I also don’t have a childhood home anymore.
But: it’s also tone deaf to openly post you hate someone because the huge estate you spent your enormously privileged childhood home isn’t preserved forever like in your memories.
It’s probably not a social project l, these 9 new homes but if 9 families can easily live there it’s maybe time they did, and not just one family.
@Herrgreter I totally agree with your sympathy for Lulu’s emotional connection to her childhood home as well as your comments on Lulu’s obliviousness to her privilege. She comes across as being far younger than her chronological age?
This also seems like another example of the hoarding mentality that has overtaken so much of our society. The idea that someone else should be obligated to adhere to her expectations about her old stuff (home, land, pet BONES) of which she is no longer the steward, to the extent that she’s throwing curses at folks is crazypants behavior.
Well, in the U.S., as long as it doesn’t violate the federal Fair Housing Act, which unfortunately I doubt the Trump administration will be spending a lot of resources to enforce, it is legal to include in a deed of sale a restrictive covenant to prohibit a purchaser from subdividing a property into multiple lots. But if you include such a provision, it can significantly lower the sale price, so failing to include it may have been a conscious choice by Paul Simon.
I never had ‘a’ childhood home. We lived in eight different places by the time I graduated high school, all of them rentals. So my understanding of her sadness isn’t quite there. It’s a lovely place & historic, yes, but I’ve seen enough Million Dollar Listing episodes to know that people who don’t want to sell their homes to developers & want someone to love it as much as they do rarely, if ever, get their wishes. You sell it, it’s no longer yours. And I cannot imagine anyone signing a document saying that they will never sell. Toughen up kiddo, life is only going to get harder.
We moved 9 times before I went into foster care and then I was in 7 different foster homes so I also don’t have a childhood home. I can sort of understand her sense of loss but I think she’s totally overreacting.
Yeah, I bet Gere acted up a storm about his love for the land and his stewardship of it and he might have even believed it at the time himself. I have read about sellers choosing a buyer based on receiving a letter or a pledge to that they love house, will be good caretakers etc. I don’t believe these pledges get baked into a sale.
On the one hand, I get the anger and betrayal–the Simon-Brickells likely picked Gere over other buyers because they believed him. Plus the Simon-Brickells could have profited a great deal more if they decided to sell to developers. It is a betrayal for sure.
But on the other hand, they sold the house and moved away. And it’s unreasonable to expect new owners to become your museum employees, down to preserving your pet graveyard. The Simon-Brickells could have sold at a lower pricer and but preservation agreements into the contract, if they really really really cared that much. I think you need to go into a house sale clear that you are giving up your property and all control.
It’s possible they picked Gere because of the phony enlightenment BS he sells about himself. You would think pulling up with a wife nearly half his age would have been a give away.
Yes, Richard Gere (75) has a wife (42) who is much younger than he is, but Edie Brickell (59) is also much younger than Paul Simon (83) , so I doubt either would have noticed nor does it matter.
they were already taking a loss — it is likely Gere had the best offer.
When my father died, I came to the realization that I could not hold on to it. He had a mortgage (he had taken out another one even though the house was paid for). He didn’t want the house sold but it was in bad shape. He couldn’t afford to renovate and neither could I. I allowed the bank to take the house. It was very stressful. They sold the house at auction. It was bought and renovated and it looked beautiful. It’s exactly what he would have wanted. I felt like a failure at first but realized ultimately it was the right decision. I grew up in that house so it was emotional for me. She is reacting on emotions and expects Richard Gere to care about it as much as she does and that is not realistic. Was she angry at her father for selling the house? At some point you have to treat it like a death but you need to move on. When was the last time she visited the house? She really needs to just let it go at this point.
Shoot me, but I don’t have it in me to be sad for someone bemoaning the sell of her 32 ACRE childhood property. This screams privileged AF.
I get the emotional attachment, but it wasn’t hers to begin with. Her parents sold it and then the new owner sold it again. Happens. Now plenty of new children are going to make great memories on the dozens of homes that can be build on the grounds.
Ps. I’m not pro-developer, btw. Just want to make that clear.
Absolutely. I work with a ~30-year-old who’s spent a lot of time this year emotionally processing his parent’s sale of his childhood home. I’m trying to be nice, but to be honest I just don’t quite understand. My mom sold my 3rd childhood home when I was 18. This kind of thing really feels like “tell me nothing bad’s ever happened to you without telling me nothing bad’s ever happened to you.”
Both my sister and I got married in our childhood home. It was in the woods with a stable, large pond and flowing stream so it was also like a retreat. It was definitely hard when they sold, but we’d be neighbors with Yolanda Hadid if they hadn’t. So there’s that to console us.
It’s an overly dramatic response I think. You don’t own the house, not your choice. It doesn’t matter how many dead pets you have buried there. Depending on the amount of time they’ve been buried they probably aren’t there anymore
I don’t understand. Paul Simon is still alive, isn’t he? And he’s in the middle of a new tour? Are we hearing any bitching about the property sale from him?
I can get that she feels betrayed if Gere indeed promised to preserve and care for the property, because he lied and that’s pretty low. But I wouldn’t vent about it on social media because yeah, that’s a very privileged gripe, isn’t it?
That said, if the original house was historic (it looks like an old house) and they tore it down, that feels personal to me too. It sounds like there was enough land to divide the property, build some new homes on it but STILL keep the historic house standing. And there is a market for those homes. So, screw the developer if they tore down that lovely old house. Sometimes they can’t be saved but in that part of the country they often are.
Is a house built in 1938 considered historic? I don’t know. Its style isn’t particularly historic (Georgian-style, but not Georgian), the inside is modern, it’s not in an historic neighborhood, Paul Simon isn’t an historical figure and nobody protested when Simon sold the house.
As someone who lives in a MUCH older historic home, what qualifies as “historic” is mostly defined by what you want to do with that historicity. You can put it in the National Register, but there are a whole lot of hoops to jump through there because you’re seeking a National Park Service designation. State historical societies may have a totally different metric and list of requirements (what you can/can’t do to the house, possibly being required to pass the home to the state upon death, etc.)
Technically, yes the 1938 home would be “historic” because it’s over 50 years old AND you could argue that Paul Simon recording in that home for all those years gives it the social importance to make it more “special” than your average 1950s ranch home. Does that matter? Only if it matters to the homeowner and they seek some sort of designation.
Ultimately though, there’s nothing saying that this house was being torn down, just that the land is being split into multiple parcels, so MaisiesMom is reading things into the story that just aren’t there.
I think it is, yes. I thought it was older based on the pictures, but a house built during the Great Depression would be considered historic. Like I said I don’t know if they tore down the house or not, only that IF they did, that would be a pity. They really built them to last back then. The houses that were built after WWII were often erected more hastily to provide homes for veterans. In my neighborhood the 1920s-30s homes are solid while the post-war ones are a lot less so. That’s not always the case, of course, but it works as a general rule.
I have nothing except: shut up child.
I thought there was something else to this story, but it is just a ridiculous, spoiled brat acting like a jerk.
A 30 year old child, just saying.
When I first started reading, I thought she was a teenager. But she’s 30???
And if she’s so upset, why didn’t Paul and Edie buy it back, or Lulu herself if she has money?
Get over it Lulu.
“Hate” is a very strong word to throw at a human being, and I think we should have less of it, especially on social media.
Yeah, too much.
I was upset for years about the people who bought my childhood home. They ended up being super trashy and trashed the house and it was an eyesore when they lived there. Thankfully a nice family who takes care of it lives there now and I’m at peace. (I did find out that when the trashy couple were selling the house and were showing the house to potential buyers that there was cat poop all over the basement floor like wtf??). So I get at some degree where Lulu is coming from – her source of upset is more extreme.
Also wow Lulu is beautiful! I guess I don’t really follow Paul Simon’s personal life but I didn’t even realize he had a daughter with Edie Brickell.
Poor child.
The hospital I was born in: no longer exists
The church I was baptized in: no longer exists
The church I got my first communion in: a parking lot
My first elementary school: no longer exists
My second elementary school: now an assisted living.
One of my childhood homes: gone, a whole new (bigger) house is there
Get over it
Happens to most of us – I have a similar list. Maybe if you’re as privileged as little Lulu it’s harder to take, poor sausage.
I 100% hate developers tearing down old houses and building newer, cheaper things (especially ones that all end up looking the same), but idk how she’s mad at Gere for this. Why not be mad at her father who sold the house to begin with?
Plus the real estate market is still ridiculous right now — there has to be something going on with this property that it’s consistently depreciating this much.
She sounds like a spoiled little kid. I get that it can be upsetting, but that is something you share with your friends, family, not to send out there for everyone to know. He may have lied or changed his mind. If it is too important to preserve, don’t sell it or convince your dad not to sell it.
Hard to believe this is a 30-year-old. She sounds like someone 15 or 16 having a tantrum. Guess what, the people you should be mad at are your parents who sold the house! Once it goes on to a new owner, it’s that person’s to do with what they wish.
Bratty and privileged.
If she were in her early 20s, I’d find it funny. Sure I kind of still do, but she’s old enough to realize not everything stays the same and financially holding onto thirty lucrative acres isn’t realistic – even for someone as wealthy as Richard Gere. Maybe she just needs to walk through the house all empty and dusty and that will get her over it. I thought I’d be nostalgic for my childhood home, but it didn’t last long. Move on and create your own home, girl!
She sounds like a whiny entitled nepo baby. Cry me a river you poor girl
If Paul Simon cared he could have basically made it so the property no longer had development rights, which he didn’t. It’s pretty common to do in CT as it lowers property taxes. It would have impacted the home value and made it worth less, so maybe that is why. Also not sure how long you can expect a 75 year old man to steward the land anyway.
That’s a lot of words for “I am a spoiled entitled little brat who throws tantrums and holds grudges anytime I don’t get exactly what I want at all times.”
She sounds absolutely psycho.
She sounds like a spoiled brat!
‘Not quite “Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping,” but a biting poetry of its own, nonetheless.’
— LOL
Why am I not surprised that Gere didn’t keep his promise. And he only bought the place in 2022?
My cynical side is telling me that she just wants the publicity that comes with going after a much bigger name. Only 2500 monthly listeners on Spotify? That’s gotta sting!!
She sounds completely unhinged. She should have bought it if she wanted it preserved.
She looks just like her mother. That’s all I got.
To guarantee preservation of the property as close as possible to how it was, Paul Simon should have put it into a conservancy and taken advantage of the tax credits that conservancies allow (as an offset and financial incentive to the restrictions and lower sales price that a conservancy effects). It’s theoretically possible that wasn’t an option, but I’m doubting it. The sale wasn’t very many years ago, and so many areas now have conservancies. Given that Gere has cultivated an image of himself as an aware, thoughtful human being, I was initially surprised he didn’t put it in a conservancy and snag the tax credits himself.
yeah, the struggle is real. Lol.
Good gosh, grow up. If you need your childhood home that bad, YOU buy it.