#greenwich time

[nemfrog]

“Universal time dial set for four places.” Time and its measurement. 1909. 

[greenwichtimenewspaper]

3-TIME SEXTORT CHUMP

A married, multimillionaire DuPont heir was extorted three times after meeting women for sex and online chats through a “sugar daddy” Web site, court records reveal.

Stephen Dent — a 54-year-old with an estimated $100 million fortune — willingly paid the women, whom he called his “slaves,” more than $200,000 for hotel trysts and Web chats, according to police reports cited by the Greenwich Time newspaper.

In one case, the Greenwich, Conn., investment-firm chief coughed up $15,000 for a sex session with a “sugar baby” whom he met through SeekingArrangement.com, Greenwich Time reported.

But it wasn’t enough for some of the women.

In three cases, court records claim, the women or associates of theirs blackmailed Dent for nearly $150,000 by threatening to expose his philandering, which one defense lawyer reportedly said included “vile and vulgar” acts.

Dent, a great-grandson of one-time DuPont company chief Alfred Irénée du Pont, was married in 1986 to Valerie Johnson, the granddaughter of a former Pennsylvania congressman.

In March 2008, Queens resident Roy Sipel, 22, pleaded guilty to larceny and was sentenced to 16 months in prison for extorting $40,000 from Dent after learning he had had sex with Sipel’s girlfriend, the newspaper reported.

Dent nevertheless visited SeekingArrangement.com again, and again was blackmailed, this time by an Ohio couple, Dawn and Christopher Jessop, records state.

The Jessops were busted this March after extorting $100,000 by threatening to release “chats, e-mails and photographs of me, to my wife and office employees,” Dent told Greenwich cops.

Dent paid $9,000 to a third woman who extorted him, court records state.

[tattooed-alchemist]

The Royal Observatory at Greenwich Reopens After London’s Smog Forced a 60-Year Hiatus

The Royal Observatory at Greenwich is resuming operations for the first time since 1957, when London's air and light pollution halted astronomers' work.

Because of the challenges and limitations of running an observatory in an urban environment, in 1948 the Royal Observatory began to transfer its instruments and functions to Sussex, which had darker, clearer skies than London. In 1957, the Royal Greenwich Observatory reopened at the Herstmonceux Castle, and the defunct observatory in London became a museum and outreach center to educate the public about astronomy.

In 2017, the Royal Museums Greenwich launched a successful campaign to raise funds to restore the observatory at Greenwich and upgrade the building in which it was housed.

The revamped Royal Observatory has been outfitted with a new telescope named after Annie Maunder, who was one of the first female scientists to work at the observatory in Greenwich. Maunder was hired in 1891 to process data as a “lady computer.” Her later research mapping sunspots and observing solar eclipses helped shed light on the link between the sun’s activity and Earth’s climate.

The Royal Observatory’s Annie Maunder Astrographic Telescope consists of four different telescopes that perform different functions. The largest can produce magnified views of the moon and planets in our solar system. Another telescope will track and record changes to the sun. The observatory will also be able to look at nebulae and galaxies with a specialized digital camera.

[halsteadproperty]

16 Wrenfield Lane Featured in Greenwich Time

Summer may be over, despite the unseasonably warm temperatures this region has experienced. Those people who have a chance to walk through the backyard at 16 Wrenfield Lane might not be convinced autumn has arrived because the gorgeous perennial gardens on this nearly two-acre property are brimming with color, especially from its numerous rose bushes.

Then again, these gardens were designed to produce “an ever-changing bounty of color from spring to summer and right into fall,” according to the realtor.

If the gardens and the overall landscaping look this good now imagine how beautiful they will be next spring and summer. Until then, the next owners of the property and the custom red brick Tidewater colonial house will just have to “settle” for spending time indoors. This house has 4,827 square feet of living space with a number of places to sit and relax and to entertain family and friends including the classically elegant formal living room and the casual sun room.

The house is set high on a hill “next to heaven,” the realtor said, well back from the road at the end of a cul-de-sac. It has a distinctive Mansard wood roof. The house was built in 1990 and was influenced by the houses in the Tidewater area typically thought of as southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina but the Tidewater region does not have defined edges. “A historian may consider Tidewater to be the location of early Colonial settlement around the Chesapeake Bay up to the 1730s,” according to the website www.virginiaplaces.org. Colonial Williamsburg lies within that boundary.

The focal point of this home’s front entrance is its butterfly staircase. There is a covered front porch at the far end of one side. Inside, the house is very well thought out and laid out, and it is imbued with warmth, charm, privacy, and quality. It has intimate spaces and places for large scale entertaining. It can accommodate a comfortable, casual backyard picnic or an elegant garden party or wedding.

The two-story foyer provides a center hall reception space. The entryways from one room to the next are arched and topped with keystones and there is entablature above the front door from the interior. That attractive millwork sets the tone for the rest of the house, which has architectural points of interest in almost every one of its 11 rooms. And yet, the realtor said, “The drama is in its simplicity.” The house does evoke thoughts of a simpler time and way of life while it also dovetails nicely into modern living. It has seven bedrooms, an in-ground swimming pool, an office or library, flexible rooms that can be used a number of ways to suit the needs of its occupants, and lots of storage space. More Information

ABOUT THIS HOUSE

STYLE: Tidewater Colonial

ADDRESS: 16 Wrenfield Lane

PRICE: $2,800,000

ROOMS: 11

FEATURES: 1.975-acre level and sloping property, located on an cul-de-sac, separate buildable 1.387-acre lot available for purchase, in-ground swimming pool, professional landscaping, perennial gardens, patios, pergola, wet bar, generator, two fireplaces, front and rear staircases, proximity to the Country Club of Darien and Ox Ridge School, convenient to the Merritt Parkway, only five minutes to town and train, gas heat, unfinished walk-up attic, partial partially finished basement, three-car garage, seven bedrooms, seven full baths

SCHOOLS: Ox Ridge Elementary, Middlesex Middle, Darien High School

ASSESSMENT: $2,080,610

MILL RATE: 15.77 mills

TAXES: $33,622

In the 20 x 19 formal living room there is a fireplace, a deep tray ceiling with cove lighting, a built-in area with open display shelves and lower cabinets, and three sets of French doors to the yard and gardens. A fourth door near the fireplace exits to a flagstone patio covered by a pergola that is draped with wisteria vines. The second red brick patio is by the pool. It adjoins a sun room, which has four sets of French doors to the yard and pool, a terra cotta tile floor, and a dome through which an abundant amount of light streams.

The formal dining room features chair railing and an attractive floral-themed wallpaper. The butler’s pantry features glass shelving for stemware, a sink/wet bar. The office has a fireplace, built-in bookshelves and cabinetry. The kitchen is divided into a practical, preparation side and an eat-in or breakfast room.

On the opposite end of the house, closer to the sun room, the first floor master suite has a bedroom with a walk-in bay window area, two bathrooms, two walk-in closets, and a dressing room. There are four more bedrooms, all en suite, on the second floor, and on the lower level there are two more rooms, both which could be bedrooms or could function as play or game rooms. One of those rooms has a full bath.

This house is walking distance to Ox Ridge Elementary School. Commuters take note, this house is just over a mile from the Talmadge Hill train station in neighboring New Canaan and only two miles from downtown Darien and its Metro North train station.

Additionally, there is a separate buildable 1.387-acre lot available for purchase at $1,400,000.

For more information or to make an appointment to see the house contact Mary K. Lopiano of Halstead Property at 203-912-4694 or [email protected].

[magnesiumandscorn]

Let other people crowd the Hamptons, give us 7th avenue.

Greenwich Time

[magictransistor]

The Royal Observatory (Prime Meridian of the World), Greenwich, c. 1824.

[queensofwinter]

Thoughts?

[gskinner]