The 401
SPACES
A Brutalist Beauty
Little Compton’ s‘ Concrete Castle’ by the Sakonnet is for sale. For $ 4.15 million, it can be yours.
T
HE MOST CONTROVERSIAL AND UNIQUE HOME in Little Compton— indeed, in probably all of Rhode Island— is hitting the market.
This Brutalist coastal home( now there’ s a phrase you don’ t see every day) can be yours for $ 4.15 million. The concrete behemoth perched atop the town’ s highest point affords scenic water and farm views from every sun-drenched room.
It caused much consternation during and after its 2016 construction, the gray, squat structure drawing ire from residents and summer visitors alike. It was so different from the sprawling, shingle-style homes, quaint farmhouses and tidy bungalows that populate the town. People wondered: Was it a doomsday bunker? A castle? A joke?
In fact, current owner Kim Saal thought much the same. His partner, Kate Bechtold, had to talk him into seeing it.
“ Kate said to me,‘ Before we buy anything else, we need to go look at this place,’” Saal says.
As soon as he walked up the home’ s front staircase into the two-story glass atrium, he was on board. His concerns about what it looked like from the outside— boxy, cold, gray— were eased.
“ You have the exact opposite feeling once you walk in the door,” he says.“ It is warm, is comfortable, and there’ s this invisible wall between the interior of the house and the exterior space. You feel like you’ re always outside.”
The couple have lived in the home since 2021, choosing it in part because Bechtold’ s daughters were both in the area: One attended the University of Massachusetts, and the other lived in Connecticut. With two guest bedrooms and a full guest bathroom on the second level, the family would have plenty of space for visiting.
But life, sometimes, has other plans. Her daughters have since both moved to Col-
38 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I MAY 2026