Main-Line Estate
Fails to Sell

The ex-wife of technology entrepreneur Warren V. "Pete" Musser has decided to auction off her Philadelphia Main Line estate for as little as a quarter of its original $12.5 million asking price.

Interior designer Hilary Grinker Musser, 42 years old, put the house, which has parts dating to the 1870s, on the market in 2005, shortly after she separated from Mr. Musser, now 81. Mr. Musser founded Safeguard Scientifics, a technology-investment company that helped develop television retailer QVC and other businesses, but his fortunes fell with the tech bust.

The 24-acre Bryn Mawr, Pa., compound, in a New England country style, is one of the largest properties in the Main Line suburbs west of Philadelphia. The couple bought it in 1996 for $1.85 million and renovated extensively. The guest house has three bedrooms and a gym with an indoor pool, spa and sauna. Besides the 7,400-square-foot main house, there's an artist's studio, an outdoor pool and spa, ponds and an apple orchard.

The open-outcry auction is set for April 19 with a suggested opening bid of $3 million, but Ms. Musser will reserve the right to reject offers below $6 million, says Todd Good, CEO of Accelerated Marketing Group, who is handling the sale in partnership with a Re/Max Executive Realty agent who goes by the name Linda "Z."

Dan Aykroyd's Listings

Less than a month after selling one Los Angeles home for $3.8 million, actor Dan Aykroyd has put another one on the market for $2.6 million. Meanwhile, he continues to ask $7 million for a New York condominium.

The $2.6 million listing, a colonial-style house in the Hollywood Hills, was purchased by the 55-year-old comedian and his brother, Peter, for $732,500 in 1987.

Former owners of the house that Mr. Aykroyd recently sold for $3.8 million include "California Dreamin' " singer Mama Cass Elliot, the listing says. Actress Beverly D'Angelo, Chevy Chase's co-star in the "National Lampoon's Vacation" series, bought the home, records show. Near Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills, the one-acre property has a house with five bedrooms, six fireplaces and a pool and is walled and gated.

Broker Veronica Olofsson represented Ms. D'Angelo. Barry Sloane of Sotheby's International Realty represented Mr. Aykroyd and has the $2.6 million listing. Roger Erickson of Sotheby's has the NYC condo, which is on East 88th Street.

Mansion Owner Says 'No' in Manhattan

Despite the financial world's turmoil, Manhattan owners with high-end homes on the market generally appear to be holding fast. Columbia Law School professor Hans Smit, who's listed a mansion for $30 million, has turned down a $20 million offer, his listing agents say.

William Tuthill, the architect of Carnegie Hall, designed the 1909 French Renaissance-style marble house for cigarette magnate Morris Schinasi. The free-standing private house -- very rare in Manhattan -- is on Riverside Drive, on the Upper West Side. It measures 12,000 square feet and has Hudson River views.

Prof. Smit bought the home for $325,000 in 1979 from Columbia University and first listed it for sale more than a year ago. Brown Harris Stevens's Diane Abrams and Felise Gross have the listing.

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