Welcome to Windjammer's!

Welcome to this very special place. The serenity, beauty, animals, wildlife & nature grows with every season, every month ... every year. Once an overgrown, empty, sad, cold property... now a place where many drive down the driveway and just look and say... "Wow... what a place. Do you know what you have here?"

When I first drove down the long winding driveway, the grass and overgrowth was 4 ft high. As you got further down, the stone structure and house emerged out of the ground... I just looked up at the broken windows, vines growing all over the facade of the main house and the burned out stonehouse totally covered and broken and it just took me. It was still gracefully keeping watch over its precious land. I felt it look back at me and say "We are waiting for new life to breathe through the land and buildings". I was mesmerized and the thought of trying to save it was born. You could barely see the house or the water of the reservoir in the background. Once I got it in my hands, I vowed to bring life back, save what I could, protect it from harm ever again and share it with others. It has been my one and only mission since originally 2017.

"I am completely obsessed with this place and trying to fix it: I think when I saw it so abandoned and unloved, I saw myself, and I'm trying to give it what I so badly needed."

Come visit... come stay... come feel it... enjoy it and love it...

Why Windjammer's?

Many of you knew my famed horse "Royal" aka "Royal Windjammer" who I had since he was 6, until he passed at 36. We lived at one point on the other side of the Kelseytown Reservoir in the first OLD OLD house I ever lived in. He was always my Houdini horse and I think explored at just about every place we lived. But this was special escaping. In 2015 I was construction manager at 2 properties for one of my investors. One was in Norwalk and I was leaving at 5 am to go down and check on the job and try to get back before 8 am. One morning I got a call from the police just as I got to the rotary on RT 80 in Killingworth, maybe 7 more minutes to get back. Well I arrived to find the police following these 2, "Royal" and his girlfriend "Regal" back to the barn. This was the only time I knew about as unbeknowns to me he was taking "Regal" joy walking around the neighborhood and returning before I knew a thing.. BUT, I did not know this until I met the neighbor on the corner for the first time... She said, "You have horses don't you? and you lived down the street?"... well yes... she said, "your horses were ALWAYS here up and down the road". So I finally figured out that he was investigating the place and after he passed he stood watch until I could get my hands on it... hence, it's named "Windjammer's". After all those years 2015 to 2020, "Regal" made it here with us, until she passed in 2023 at the age of 38.

royal windjammers story

The Beginning

Project Windjammer's 5 years old, July 31, 2025!

We started negotiations on this property in October 2017. The original deal fell through due to fraudulent lender and then in October of 2019 my realtor friend, Micheal J. Pappa had finally found another lender, so we came back to this gem and started new negotiations. After months of going back and forth it was set to finally close and then COVID really reared its ugly head and the deal was haulted. Another 4 months of agonizing negotiations continued. Finally the week of July 19th, the deal was in place and I received the signed contracts on July 19th which was the anniversary of my dad's passing. I knew he was my angel at that moment, along with many others that must have been looking over us. The closing was July 30, 2020.

The History...

The property consists of a main house circa 1724, addition early 1900's, and at that time the ruins of a stonehouse. This is all sitting on 6.79 acres on the Kelseytown Reservoir. The property was in need of total rehab. The house was apparently empty for over 20 years. The overgrowth was unbelievable, but I could see through it somehow. I have no idea why no one else wanted it. Did it need 20 years of clean up and work, YES. Can you buy a property like this in general, NO.

I knew this had to have history, but had only known that is was originally a hunting lodge. When I met the neighbor who owns the other original house on the property, she told me that the history also included it being an Art Colony and that the mysteriously burned stonehouse was Pierre Houpert's Distillerie! The story I got from some family and other sources is that the A&P delivery manager could not understand why so much sugar was being delivered here. He reported it to the feds, but before they got here, the building was burned down. And that is the way it had been ever since. After several tough tough loans, both the main house and stonehouse have been revitalized. There is still much to do, but the accomplishments are massive and with next to nothing to do it with. The views are now breathtaking, the serenity and peace is calming and mesmerizing.

Sadly, it looks like Houpert & Frere Vodka is no longer available. These are the 2 websites, but are apparently gone now.
Please visit these 2 websites for my info on how to purchase it!
Tower Hill Rd - http://www.towerhillroad.com/
Houpert & Frere Vodka - http://www.houpertfrere.com/

rotary story

News Winter 2026

So our Stonehouse has now had about a year of bookings... I have earned a "Superhost" status at airbnb. My guests have been 99.9% absolutely TERRIFIC and I have tremendously enjoyed 99.9% of all of them and are very grateful I have this opportunity to meet all these wonderful people.

We are now working on getting through winter to bring on spring... spring flowers, spring gardens and summer vegetable gardens!!

Stay Tuned!

Other Special Things

The Gardens

The Furries

The Wildlife

The Stonehouse

The Present...

Since its purchase, July 31, 2020, the non stop work at Windjammer's has continued. The main house and stonehouse have both been completely renovated with careful design work trying to blend the old with the new. Much of the original structure on the main house was gone, but I was able to restore what I think were some of the original beams. The original chimney with 4 working fireplaces and the original stone foundation still remain. There is still a long way to go in bringing the property to its full potential, but what has been accomplished through my contractors and many friends is heartwarming. The main house and stonehouse are now surrounded by gardens. All of the choking vines are gone. The driveway has all been redone with beautiful pink granite from the Stony Creek Quarry in Branford. The renovations to the main house included ripping off the 2nd floor off of the main house which was completely compromised, redesign and rebuild the 2nd story with dormers, skylights, cathedral ceiling, exposed beams and window walls of glass to mirror the right side with beautiful views of the property. The Stonehouse has now been fully renovated into a spectacular 2 bedroom 2.5 bath guest house that is Windjammer's Airbnb. Many many awesome treasures have been and continue to be found. Some are; the original well, an old walkway to a side door, some very cool glasses, bottles and much much more! We are still looking for potential partners or investors to move forward. Please contact Kim for more information.

The Future...

This spectacular piece of property is in Clinton, CT. We have just opened the stonehouse for Booking on AirBnB! We look forward to meeting many people who come to enjoy this special place. Would love to do some acoustic music series here this summer if possible.

Aside from staying at this historical gem, the sunrises and sunsets, trails through the property and down to the water, I hope in the future for people to be able to bring their horses to ride the trails across the street. There are many many nearby tourist attractions all in less than an hour travel. Please see our Nearby Attractions page for all kinds of things to do.

Farm Tourism Venue:
In the distant future we would love to look into some farm tourism activities. Town zoning will allow very cool events. Some are: "Movie Camp Night", "Fiddle Off" Events, "A Pumpkin Hunt", Canning Demos & Coffee Clatch, Bonfire Jams, Sunday Brunch & Trail Ride, flower and plant stand (honor system), IDEAL planting workshops - Native American style, such as the corn, bean, & pumpkin trio. Flower garden tips for the Northeast, educational workshops including blacksmithing, woodworking, wilderness walks, birding for all and much more.