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44 Chestnut Hill RoadLarry Merz/FloorPlansOnline
Larry Merz/FloorPlansOnline
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Larry Merz/FloorPlansOnline
Larry Merz/FloorPlansOnline
Larry Merz/FloorPlansOnline
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Larry Merz/FloorPlansOnline
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A Connecticut property once owned by the late actress Luise Rainer — who in the 1930s became the first actress to win back-to-back Oscars — is on the market for $995,000.

A German-born Jewish star, Rainer was quite the legend: she fled Hitler for Hollywood, told off MGM’s Louis Mayer over her roles, quit Hollywood at her peak and lived to 104 years old. After a disastrous marriage to cheating playwright Clifford Odets, Rainer, a stunning beauty, married wealthy publisher Robert Knittel.

Luise RainerGaluschka/ullstein bild via Getty ImagesLuise RainerGaluschka/ullstein bild via Getty Images

In 1950, they bought 6.64 acres in Stamford, where they enjoyed weekend getaways in a 600-square-foot cottage.

Two years later, they sold the property at 44 Chestnut Hill Road to the now-deceased Lester Rossin, one of Madison Avenue’s original “Mad Men”-style advertising moguls, according to records that don’t disclose full purchase and sale prices. Rossin added a mid-century home to the property, says listing broker Serena Richards, of Halstead.

Rossin’s estate is now selling that home plus the Rainer and Knittel’s cottage, which is now used as a storage shed. The rest of the 1.92-acre property has been subdivided into three lots that are also for sale separately.

The main four-bedroom home opens to a large foyer that leads to living and dining rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and a granite fireplace. There’s also a cypress-paneled den with stone floors and a patio with a pool shaded by a copper beech tree.

The home additionally has a sun room with walls of glass and a covered terrace.

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