Listing agent for home of embattled Connecticut developer speaks out

A 14,000-square-foot mansion in Connecticut built by a luxury home builder known for his projects in Fairfield County is on the market for $4.35 million, but the circumstances surrounding the home’s availability could complicate a potential sale.

Fore Group’s Fotis Dulos

Fotis Dulos, whose development firm Fore Group is based out of the home at 4 Jefferson Crossing in Farmington, Hartford County, has made local and national headlines over the past month after he was arrested following the sudden disappearance of his estranged wife, Jennifer Farber Dulos.

An acrimonious divorce proceeding involving the family, which includes five children, and the alleged marital strife that preceded a split between the parents have been cited as potential factors in Farber Dulos’ disappearance. A New Canaan resident at the time she was last seen in late May, Farber Dulos remains missing, and authorities have conducted an exhaustive, unsuccessful search for a body.

“Everything looked stereotypically perfect,” Rob Giuffria told People this week. A realtor with Tea Leaf Realty in Farmington who currently has the listing for 4 Jefferson Crossing, Giuffria befriended the couple when he began working with Dulos in 2013.

In recent interviews with Channel 3 Eyewitness News in Farmington, Giuffria said that the six-bedroom, 10-bathroom home once owned by Dulos and his wife, whose divorce case remains pending, should still sell for close to its asking price, as long as nothing nefarious happened inside of it.

“Everyone looks at a home like 4 Jefferson and thinks, ‘Wow, those people have it really lucky, it would be nice if we could live in a home like that one day,'” Giuffria told the outlet. “I think on par, if nothing criminally [happened] in the house besides Fotis and Jennifer [living] in it, I think it’s going to be a positive for the neighborhood, because not many people follow luxury homes unless they’re in the market.”

Giuffria did acknowledge that high-end homes sales in central Connecticut have struggled, citing the nearly $3 million sale earlier this year of rapper 50 Cent’s former Farmington compound, which first hit the market in 2007 with an $18.5 million ask. Since Dulos and his estranged wife are still the owners of 4 Jefferson Crossing, Giuffria told Eyewitness News that he represents both of their interests. And as long as Farber Dulos remains missing, changes to the property listing, including to its price, cannot be made, he said.

Dulos, released on bail earlier this month, has been charged with his girlfriend, former Fore Group employee Michelle Troconis, with hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence in connection with Farber Dulos’ disappearance. His lawyer, Norm Pattis, has publicly floated the idea that Farber Dulos may have committed suicide to get back at her husband.

Giuffria noted that terrible things can happen in any neighborhood.

“Good and bad happen everywhere, and it really doesn’t matter how expensive of a home you live in,” he told the local news network. [WFSB] — Maya Rajamani and Brian Baxter