Piano maestro Andre Watt’s Rockland estate listed for $1.5 million

The home custom built for Andre Watts, noted classical pianists, in 1985 has once again surfaced on the market for $1.5 million, offering you an opportunity to move in with your piano where the maestro practiced Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin and Lizt for hours.

A report says that the 6,000-square-foot Rockland estate sits on a 4.67-acre park-like lot in Ramapo, New York. The estate lies at the base of Ramapo mountains and is surrounded by vast lands, precisely speaking, 52,000 acres of parklands and conservation easements.

The property includes four bedrooms, including an in-law suite with its private kitchen, and four full bathrooms. It features 30-foot cathedral ceilings, a music studio, a wine cellar, and a greenhouse, in addition to impressive skylights.

The listing on Ellis Sotheby's International Realty says that on the exterior, the home features features stone, cedar, glass and eight roof lines. It also comes with a tennis court, ATV trails and a partially-built guest house. The estate boasts of a large lawn, wooded areas with many coniferous trees and shrubbery for year-round greenery, numerous flower beds, trails, bridges, and a seasonal brook.

Watts left this house in 2000 following his divorce and subsequent financial problems, which compelled the pianist to file for Chapter 11 protection over increasing unsettled payments on the home's mortgage. However, he has resolved these issues, remarried and is now living elsewhere.

Born in Nuremberg, Germany, Watts came to the U.S. at an early age and enrolled at the Philadelphia Musical Academy (now a part of the University of the Arts) from where he graduated in June 1963. He entered his first competition at nine, with forty other children, for the opportunity to perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra Children's Concerts. Watts won the competition playing a concerto by Joseph Haydn. In 1964, he won the Grammy Award for Best New Classical Artist.

Rampo property records show Christopher S. Harrison and Evelyn Preuss as the current owners of the property. They purchased it in 2005.