The estate that served as a sanctuary for composer/lyricist/record producer Jim Steinman for three decades is being sold intact with all his possessions and collections, including the Yamaha grand piano on which he wrote Bonnie Tyler’s hit single “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” and Meat Loaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).” [Source: Mansion Global]
Steinman, who produced, among other albums, Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” and “Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell,” bought the property in 1993 for $424,500, according to property records, and spent over $6 million in construction costs alone converting its small 1920 colonial-style cottage into a grand estate that served as his primary residence.
“There’s nothing typical about the estate,” said Laura Ancona of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, who listed the property earlier this month. “It’s enchanting and divine.”
The great room/studio has a cathedral ceiling.
Bernadette Queenan
Steinman died in 2021 at the age of 73. Ms. Ancona noted his representatives decided selling everything together would be the most appropriate way to honor Steinman’s life and work.
The price—the multiple 555s are symbolic of new beginnings, and the 69 is the year Steinman graduated from Amherst College, which subsequently awarded him an honorary doctorate—pays homage to his creativity.
David Sonenberg, Steinman’s manager and executor of the estate, said that the proceeds from the sale will be used to fund a new charity, Rockman Philharmonic, which will encourage people in music and the theater. “It’s called Rockman because that’s what Steinman means in German,” he said. “We hope the buyer of the property collaborates with us—it would be an ideal place for an artist residency.” [Source: Mansion Global]
