Artful Design

What: Two-story, 14-room estate with three bedrooms, 5½ baths in 11,000 square feet on 2.7 acres.

Where: Warren, Conn., about 90 miles northwest of New York City.

Amenities: Cathedral ceilings, master bedroom with private balcony with lake views, access to private lake.

Asking Price: $3.65 million

Opening Bid*: $2.9 million

Listing Agent: Peter Klemm and Graham Klemm, Klemm Real Estate, Washington, Conn. 860-868-7313

Due Diligence: Owners Robert and Susan Summer are avid art collectors who designed this Contemporary home to include a two-story art gallery with large, uninterrupted walls specially designed for hanging heavy, outsize paintings. The walls are embedded with industrial hanging devices, "so you don't have to bang into the wall every time you want to hang a painting," says Mr. Summer, 70 years old, a former president at Sony Music International. He says he bought the property in 1988 for about $350,000 and built the dwelling, finished in 1990, for about $1.5 million.

Additional Photos

*The opening bid is Weekend Journal's estimate of a reasonable starting point for negotiations to buy the property, based on past sales, prevailing market conditions and interviews with local real-estate experts.

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