Kate Cordsen is a documentary filmmaker, landscape photographer and painter, art collector, former model—and we’re adding home enthusiast to her resume. In 2023, Cordsen traded in a picture-perfect apartment for a move to Gramercy Park; and in 2011, her Italianate residence in Essex, Connecticut was featured in CTC&G. She eventually sold that spread for another property in the same town: This very home.
It sits along Falls River (which flows into the Connecticut River) and is just steps from Essex’s quaint downtown area. Cordsen brought her artful eye to the circa-1955 cottage with a gut renovation and expansion, completed in 2022. The one-story retreat totals 4,383 square feet with three bedrooms, three full bathrooms, and one half-bath all exuding chic sophistication.
“This house has an amazing ease to it,” Cordsen says. “The views are beyond and yet I am in town with total privacy. It is bittersweet leaving this magical house and lovely village.” Cordsen is swapping her Connecticut getaways for Sag Harbor, New York, where she bought a historic home that she will remodel next.
The primary bedroom suite was an addition in 2021 and it boasts waterfront views, a large dressing area, and a divine bathroom complete with vaulted ceilings. The barn-like, two-car garage was another addition and it includes an office space and home gym. Cordsen has also had a studio for her work at the residence.
Vaulted ceilings (which reach 16 feet tall in the great room) give an airy feel to the spaces and help create large walls. Of course, Cordsen’s work and her 20th-century art collection are currently featured throughout. The kitchen is outfitted with Wolf appliances and there is also a room with a bar. Cordsen shares it is “the best house I have ever had for entertaining.”
Colette Harron of William Pitt Julia B Fee | Sotheby’s International Realty holds the listing priced at $4.495 million.