If prim and wealthy-beyond-wealthy New Canaan, Conn., doesn't first come to mind when one thinks of taxidermy, oh, please think again. A house asking $13.85M boasts 100 preserved animals, and you'd probably never even know if by looking at the listing photos. Thankfully, the Wall Street Journal paid a visit to seller Joseph Sisca Jr., a civil engineer and developer who hunted every single one of the animals now holding court on his walls. "I know that hunting is very controversial, but I wanted to do something good with the sport," said Sisca, whose wife was fine with his taxidermy proclivities but didn't want animal busts anywhere near her traditionally and sumptuously decorated living space. So now the menagerie lives in an "activities building," a sort of souped-up man cave that's connected to the main house by a breezeway.
Highlights:
"a full-size crocodile is displayed leaping from a Zambian river painted from a wall onto the floor and snagging a mounted baboon on a low hanging limb. Nearby, two lions are positioned in front of a painted mural of the Serengeti. In the Arctic section, two wolves attack a musk ox standing in a field of artificial snow. And on a 45-foot mountain that stretches from the first floor to the ceiling, there are about 20 species of sheep, each mounted at their natural elevation with a stream of water trickling down the rocks."
Fear not, house hunters: "If preserved animals aren't the buyer's thing, the owners say they're willing to customize the space at no extra cost."
· Animal Museum and, Oh, a House [WSJ]
· 153 Chichester Road, New Canaan, Conn. [Zillow]
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