The property at 7 Taymor Trail, Clifton Park, New York, for sale by Sara Bronfman
Sara Bronfman-Igtet, age 46, Seagram heiress and sister of Clare Bronfman, is selling her Albany-area home at 7 Taymor Trail for $2.85 million. The home is listed by longtime Nxivm member Franca DiCrescenzo with Armida Rose Realty Group.
The 14th Dalai Lama visits Albany. Sara Bronfman-Igtet is pictured at far left, standing next to Allison Mack, Nicki Clyne, Alejandra Anaya Gonzalez, Emiliano Salinas, Edgar Boone, the Dalai Lama, Loreta Garza, Lauren Salzman, Karen U., Ivy Nevares, [?] Pam Cafritz, Clare Bronfman.
Who Is Sara Bronfman-Igtet?
Sara Bronfman-Igtet is the daughter of billionaire Edgar Bronfman, former Seagram chairman. She was a long-time member and funder of Nxivm. Along with her sister, Clare Bronfman, she was part of Raniere’s “trusted group,” according to testimony by ex-Nxian Mark Vicente.
Sara held the coveted Nxivm “green sash” — making her one of fewer than two dozen of Nxivm’s 17,000 members to achieve so exalted a rank.
Sara played a major role in bringing the 14th Dalai Lama to Albany. His Holiness visited the New York State capital in the spring of 2009 to give a lecture at the Palace Theatre.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, pictured with Keith Raniere, Nancy Salzman, and Sara Bronfman
Where Are Sara Bronfman and Clare Bronfman Now?
Today, Sara Bronfman-Igtet is reportedly residing in Portugal with her husband Basit Igtet and their two children. Her sister, Clare Bronfman, is serving part of her 81-month sentence in a federal detention center in Philadelphia, pending reassignment.
The Property at a Glance
Bronfman-Igtet has apparently been trying to sell this property for a while. It has been listed on Realtor.com for 136 days.
She purchased the spacious Clifton Park home for $1.85 million in May 2015, as reported at this site. According to a family friend who helped manage improvements, Sara invested another $2 million into the property, adding a pool, theater, finished basement, art pieces and other amenities.
Satellite view of Sara Bronfman’s house for sale, from Google Maps.
The stone-front home is 10,500 square feet, featuring eight bedrooms and seven-and-a-half baths. It’s set on a 4.31-acre lot, which equals the size of 107.25 volleyball courts or a little more than 4 football fields.
By the way, the front is stone but the sides and back are not stone and, based on the picture below, appear to be either wood- or vinyl-sided.
Vinyl is final – but it may be wood that sides the back and sides of Sara Bronfman’s home in Clifton Park.
At $2.85 million, if Sara got the full asking price, she would be losing about $1 million on her investment, if it is true that she spent $2 million in improvements.
Take a Tour of the Sara Bronfman Estate in Clifton Park, New York
A long drive approaches the home and winds around what could be described as a turf-covered privacy pyramid.
Sara Bronfman’s house in Clifton Park, New York.
Aerial view of the for-sale Sara Bronfman property
Clifton Park has an average July high of 83 F, so the inground saltwater pool might see plenty of summertime use.
The saltwater pool at the for-sale Sara Bronfman estate. Bronfman added the pool along with other improvements.
Upon entering the house, you’ll encounter a foyer that features a life-sized horse-sculpture-cum-lamp.
Entrance hall with horse lamp
The living room features a white sculpture over the fireplace, with a golden chandelier above the circular couch with gold upholstery. It’s an inviting place to curl up for some good word salad or, better yet, watch a video of Keith Raniere being interviewed by Allison Mack.
Sara Bronfman’s house for sale – living room with a fabulous circular sectional couch.
Sara Bronfman living room
What appears to be a media room features black carpeting and black walls.
Sara Bronfman’s home theater. The theater with high fidelity sound is an astoundingly good place to watch old Vanguard Week talent night videos.
A modest home theater setup
A traditional, homey kitchen serves as the heart of the home. This is the same kitchen Sara once cooked eggs in for New York Times Magazine writer Vanessa Grigoriadis, who wrote an impressive article, Inside Nxivm, the ‘Sex Cult’ That Preached Empowerment, which was published after Raniere’s arrest.
It was one of the few occasions since the Dalia Lama appeared in 2009 that Sara spoke to the media about Nxivm.
The kitchen has a traditional style with a touch of Americana
Grigoriadis wrote, “Like Raniere, the Bronfman sisters were seeking to heal familial relationships, particularly with their father, a pillar of New York society and president of the World Jewish Congress. They were also drawn to Raniere’s emphasis on ethics.
“’My whole life growing up, I always wanted to do something to impact the world,’ said Sara, a lovely woman who made me eggs in her Albany-area mansion this winter — the proportions of her home were so preposterous that I felt I had shrunk to a hundredth of my size, like Alice after she drank the potion in Wonderland.
“’My dad, as we were growing up, he was bringing Jews out of Russia, he was taking on the Swiss banks.’ After a friend from Sun Valley recommended the group, then called Executive Success Programs, to Sara, she asked Edgar to take a course, and he liked it.
“’All my dreams of saving the world with my dad were coming true,’ she said.”
The home features both formal and informal dining spaces.
Informal dining area in Sara Bronfman house
Formal dining area looks a little spartan.
A home office/study.
Home office
A two-story fireplace in this room does little to undo the rather bland decor.
This bedroom is pretty large.
What looks to be the master bedroom has a somewhat spartan and traditional style.
A home gym is also pretty large.
The home gym has low-key aesthetics but looks like a functional fitness space.
Horse sculptures graze among the spartan décor
The master bath has a circular tub, a fireplace and natural light
There is also a walk-in shower in the master bathroom.
Master bath dressing space and walk-in shower area
Neighborhood / Local Amenities
The stone-front home is not far from Sokolowski’s Greenhouse and Bowman’s Orchard Farmer’s Wagon and not much else. It is in a town called Clifton Park.
As you can see from the map below, Clifton Park is south of Saratoga Springs, east of Schenectady, north of Troy and Albany, and could be described as part of the Capital Region. The river running south of it is the Mohawk River, and to the east is the Hudson River.
Clifton Park is the location of the home at 7 Taymor Trail,
This home, that Sara spent so much to fix up and to make comfortable for herself, her husband and her children, a home she planned to spend most of her life living in, to be nearer her Vanguard, is empty and now for sale.
Her plans changed immensely. After her sister’s arrest, she fled the USA and went to Provence, France. But, her Nxivm past caused trouble there, and she went next to Portugal.
With the sale of this property, the place she once planned to be her home, Sara Bronfman-Igtet is likely concluding her long-time association with Albany. She first came here in 2003.
Target of Civil Lawsuit
Sara is being sued by some 80 former Nxivm members in the Eastern District of New York and has reportedly been transferring her US assets overseas.
She is not known to have visited the USA since before her sister’s arrest in July 2018. And she did not attend any of the federal criminal court hearings for her sister, including the all-important bail hearing and her sentencing hearing.
Sara excused herself from the bail hearing saying she could not travel with her small children. For Clare’s sentencing hearing, she said the pandemic precluded her from travel.
It may be fair to say America has seen the last of Sara Bronfman-Igtet. We may not see her in our midst again.
Sara Bronfman has left and gone away.
