The former America’s Next Top Model creative director is selling the modern Wilton retreat he has called home for 15 years.
Jay Manuel’s Real Estate Story
Jay Manuel is one of the most recognizable behind-the-scenes talents of reality television. The Canadian creative director and makeup artist rose to fame as the photo-shoot expert and judge on America’s Next Top Model, remaining with the show for 18 seasons until 2012. He has also been the face of Canada’s Next Top Model and has since gone on to work in television, beauty and design.
His property story is not one of collecting, but one of a conscious shift from city to country. In 2000 Manuel and his partner, Alton Johnson, bought a 2,269-square-foot loft in Manhattan’s Chelsea Mercantile building on Seventh Avenue. The couple owned it for 11 years, and sold it in 2011, the same year that Manuel bought the Connecticut property at the heart of this story. The deal, a Chelsea home for a private Fairfield County estate on a handful of wooded acres, is a blueprint for his life since.
The News: Jay Manuel Lists His Wilton Estate
Jay Manuel is bidding farewell to his home and studio. The sale of the former America’s Next Top Model creative director’s contemporary estate in Wilton, Conn., has been underway since the spring and is now up for $4.695 million.
The estate first came to market in May 2026 at $4.975 million. The new number cuts roughly $280,000 off that initial offer and indicates a bid to attract a buyer. It is also a significant return on a long-term investment. The current price is about 80 percent higher than the $2.6 million Manuel paid for the property in 2011, one year before he left the Top Model franchise, and before he adds the years of work he invested in finishing the home. It is also known that Manuel has tried the market before, in 2019 and 2021, before choosing this spring’s listing.
The sale is a private sale. The announcement was made on Instagram, where Manuel described the listing as bittersweet, and noted that the house had become a part of his identity. He called it a creative haven, a home for family and friends, a place to reset, a place to breathe. His motivation for leaving is pragmatic: his work and travel schedule now keeps him away from Connecticut for extended periods, and a home this grand demands to be lived in.
The house hasn’t been a breeze. In 2014, Manuel abandoned the home due to water damage to the exterior walls and filed a lawsuit for alleged construction defects, and then supervised a reconstruction that created the home that is now available to home buyers. Now, that history is behind a move-in ready estate.
The pitch for buyers is privacy and design. The home is located on approximately 2.6 acres in one of Fairfield County’s most desirable towns, surrounded by a protected nature preserve and close to NYC. It’s priced under $5 million, and provides almost 8,000 square feet of architect-designed living in one of the most coveted commuter towns in the New York region.
Jay Manuel’s Connecticut Estate: Property Facts
| Property Feature | Details |
| Owner | Jay Manuel |
| Location | Wilton, Connecticut, USA |
| Property Type | European modern estate |
| Interior Size | 7,907 square feet |
| Lot Size | Approximately 2.6 acres |
| Bedrooms | 5 |
| Bathrooms | 5 |
| Garage | Three-car garage |
| Year Completed | 2011 |
| Kitchen | Poliform cabinetry and Miele appliances |
| Outdoor Amenities | Heated saltwater pool, spa, terraces, and outdoor kitchen |
| Additional Features | Wine cellar, skylit gym, fire pit, and Zen garden |
| Energy Features | Passive solar design and advanced climate control |
| Asking Price | $4.695 million |
Property Timeline
- 2011: Jay Manuel buys the Wilton property for $2.6 million.
- February 2014: Manuel reportedly leaves the home after water damage to its exterior walls.
- May 2014: He files suit over alleged construction deficiencies, then oversees a rebuild.
- 2019 and 2021: The home is reportedly tested on the market in earlier sale attempts.
- May 2026: The estate is listed at $4.975 million.
- September 2026: The ask is reset to $4.695 million.
