Home About Archives RSS Feed

Could New Neighbors Be Wall Street Journal Heirs?

Staff Reports

NEW MARLBOROUGH, Mass — Realtor Lance Vermeulen refused to name who purchased nearly 300 acres of land on Canaan Southfield Road for $4.3 million but iBerkshires has a guess.

Your new neighbors may be Amy Selinger and Mark Elefante – a young couple with ties to the former Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones and Co. It could also be one of the Bancrofts themselves – who inherited the Wall Street Journal and made $1.2 billion on its 2007 sale.

Here's how we came up with that.

The property listed at 2128 Canaan Southfield Road was sold to the holding company Vergelegen LLC, according to state land records. The Secretary of State's corporation database shows the agent of the holding company to be Elefante. The holding company's address is the same as the law firm Hemenway and Barnes, which is also noted in the land transfer paperwork.

An attorney with Hemenway and Barnes acted as lead trustee for the sale of Dow Jones and Co. to News Corp. – Rupert Murdoch's empire – in 2007. And that attorney's name..... drumroll please.... Michael Elefante. Michael Elefante is also authorized to execute documents through Vergelegen LLC. 

Michael Elefante joined Hemenway and Barnes in 1970 and served as a director of Dow Jones & Co. – serving with the Bancrofts. Michael was the lead trustee for the Dow Jones Co. His son Mark Elefante joined the law firm later.

But we are not done yet. There are some other factors that lead us to bet on him.

Mark Elefante studied at Williams College and he married Selinger in 2009. Williams students are known to return to the area.

They were both 29 at the time and Vermeulen said that it was a young couple looking for a second home who purchased the property.

Next we have the land itself. The land has three buildings: a 2,100-square-foot farmhouse and two smaller 1,000-square-foot dwellings. Pretty good land for farming and horse-breeding, we would think. With ties to the Bancroft family, we could suspect the Elefantes run in similar circles and Wikipedia says the Bancrofts enjoy farming and horse-breeding.

We do wonder if maybe Mark Elefante is using his holding company to conceal the name for a client. He does specialize in land acquisition.

The Bancrofts are notoriously reclusive from media coverage and the town does not see the spotlight often.

Anybody have the inside scoop or other guesses?

Tags: Wall Street Journal, New Marlborough, Land      

Support Local News

We show up at hurricanes, budget meetings, high school games, accidents, fires and community events. We show up at celebrations and tragedies and everything in between. We show up so our readers can learn about pivotal events that affect their communities and their lives.

How important is local news to you? You can support independent, unbiased journalism and help iBerkshires grow for as a little as the cost of a cup of coffee a week.

News Headlines
Williamstown Con Comm Approves Hopkins Bridge Replacement
State Unemployment and Job Estimates for October
Mass RMV Offering Learner’s Permit Exams in Spanish, Portuguese
We Can be Thankful for Vermont's Wild Turkeys
Four Berkshire Nonprofits Receive Grants for Youth Health
Hancock School Celebrates Thanksgiving by Highlighting Community
Swann, Williams Women Place Third at Natinoals
Community Hero: Noelle Howland
Fairview Hospital Receives the 2024 Women's Choice Award
Butternut Fire Contained; Conditions Improve


Categories:
Culture (10)
History (3)
Museums (1)
Nature (5)
Real Estate (4)
Shopping (6)
Archives:
Tags:
Projectnorman Birds Consignment Great Salt Bakery New Berkshire Town Clerk Richmond Clothing Lenox Fire Station Barrington Vacation Pittsfield Celebrities Pctv Other Art Show Great Barrington Karen Lee Contest Year's School Mountain Closing Bird Count Brother Archives Survey Darryl's Buildings Ideas
Popular Entries:
Town Accepting Bids for Old Fire Station
Could New Neighbors Be Wall Street Journal Heirs?
The Last of the Insects
African-American Festival Coming to the Berkshires
Christmas Bird Count Bright and Early
Norman Rockwell Archive Goes Live Online
Back to the Basics: Holiday Toy Shopping Done Right
Late-Night Host Fallon Skis Butternut
Owls for Turkeys
A Place for Us: Re-Wear Brings Style to Sheffield
Recent Entries:
Schooled in Passion: Packer's "Women of Will" at Shake & Co.
A Place for Us: Re-Wear Brings Style to Sheffield
Richmond Still Looking For Town Clerk
The Last of the Insects
Is Verizon Making Good on Its Word?
Building Collapses in Great Barrington
Could New Neighbors Be Wall Street Journal Heirs?
Mother Nature is No Match for Cheese
Construct Running Out of Emergency Funds
Winter Breakdown at Ben's in Lee