$10.5M Farm in RI is for Sale - Is at Center of Speaker’s Ethics Investigation

$10.5M Farm in RI is for Sale - Is at Center of Speaker’s Ethics Investigation

A pristine farm in Rhode Island has gone on the market — and the 27-acre-plus "gentleman's estate" has a back story tied to political intrigue and an ongoing Ethics Commission investigation.

The property is “Gerald’s Farm,” owned by developer Gerald Zarella — a man who has been interwoven with Rhode Island’s business and political history.

Zarella, over the past 30 years, has helped bring to Rhode Island both Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump — who were subject of three of the four presidential impeachments — Clinton once and Trump twice.

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The farm is the backdrop to a high-profile ethics complaint against Speaker of the House Joseph Shekarchi which is now being investigated by the Rhode Island Ethics Commission.

“Gerald’s Farm,” located at 1 Gerald Farm Drive in Exeter, has been listed by Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty for $10.5 million. 

“Bordering both East Greenwich & North Kingstown, this property is the epitome of elegance and refinement. Spanning 27 acres of meticulously manicured grounds, adorned with fragrant roses and flourishing apple trees, this estate presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The centerpiece of this magnificent estate is a grand 6,200 square foot main house,” boasts the listing.

Despite putting his estate on the market, Zarella told GoLocal he has no plans to leave Rhode Island.

“It’s just way too big for me,” said Zarella, who joked that he has “never even been upstairs” in the house. 

Zarella said he has already gotten strong interest in the listing. 

“It’s about the setting. Once you get on the property, you can’t duplicate it,” he said.

 

Neighbors and Politics

Zarella noted that the abutting neighbors are on expansive acreage lots — including one that famously dumped a large pile of manure next to his property, over a fight about weddings being hosted on the property.

“He paid dearly for that,” said Zarella, who said he could not offer more details “due to a confidentiality agreement.”

The question of whether Zarella could host events on the estate — and how — recently resurfaced when the Rhode Island Republican Party filed an ethics complaint against Shekarchi, who the party claims in 2017 worked on legislation that would have benefitted Zarella. 

The Ethics Commission voted to allow the suit to move forward — and Zarella, who has disaffiliated from the GOP, then sued the Rhode Island Republican Party this past July. 

“We’re moving quicker on our lawsuit than their ethics challenge,” said Zarella.

“I’m the only guy who’s brought two Presidents from two parties to this state,” said Zarella, pointing to Clinton and Trump, the latter whose Rhode Island committee he co-chaired.

And it was Zarella's support for Trump that, in 2021, caused Democratic Governor Dan McKee to cancel a fundraiser that was going to be held at the property. 

“When I grew up, we were on welfare. That’s why I started off as a Democrat. My mom, she worked at a bakery and worked her way through school and retired as a secretary of the [Rhode Island] Supreme Court,” said Zarella. 

But for now, Zarella has moved on from Republican politics, and soon, he hopes, the expansive property. 

“I had wanted to have weddings there for my daughter, who’s a wedding photographer,” said Zarella. “But I signed a deed with the town of Exeter that after the weddings we held, I would not host any more.” 

The irony, say Zarella, is that when you’re on the property, “you don’t even feel like you’re in Rhode Island,” he laughed.