Inside the Bridgham Estate on the East Side of Providence. Photo from 460Rochambeau.com

By Kim Kalunian, WPRO News

The Bridgham Estate, the sprawling, private estate on the corner of Rochambeau and Blackstone on Providence’s East Side, could soon be sold.

Realtor Jim DeRentis of Residential Properties says the sale is pending and is expected to close in April. The details of who is looking to buy the estate, which is listed at $4.9 million, are still unknown.

The estate made headlines late last year after the current owners, Leonard and Paula Granoff, looked to subdivide the 3.6-acre compound into 10 new lots. Neighbors opposed the plan, which ultimately died at the hands of the Providence Planning Commission in December.

Attorney William Landry, who represented the group of neighbors opposed to the subdivision, tells WPRO News the Granoffs filed an appeal, but then asked that any hearing on the appeal be postponed until May. He said they expected the sale of the home to close before May, at which time the appeal will be withdrawn and the development process discontinued.

“My understanding is that the new buyer is not interested in developing the property,” wrote Landry in an email. “But the Granoffs have tried to keep the development option open in the unlikely event that the closing is not successfully concluded.”

According to the property’s website, the historic estate features the original Spanish Colonial Revival manor house designed in 1915 for William Bridgham and his wife Clara. The 9,100 square-foot home has four bedrooms and three bathrooms in addition to a carriage house, greenhouse and sprawling garden. The estate sits behind a stone wall that dates back to 1849.

The Providence Tax Assessor database lists the property as having been assessed at more than $2.7 million last year.