The Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon has taken a construction firm to court over what she calls “extensive problems” at what she envisioned as a $2m eco-friendly dream home she had built in Vermont for her retirement.
Buckled siding, missing insulation, mold and an unfinished primary bedroom ceiling are among 47 issues found by engineers, contractors and Sarandon’s staff, according to a lawsuit filed against DeGrenier Contracting and Property Management in federal court in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Sarandon, 76, built the environmentally sustainable home on 45 wooded acres with meadows in Stamford, Vermont, near the Massachusetts border. She bought the parcel in 2018 through the limited liability company The Right to Bear Farms, which filed the lawsuit.
Sarandon said she had a “clear vision” for a home that would be “entirely off-the-grid”, with solar power, well water and geothermal energy, “in light of increasing global environmental instability”.
The co-star of Thelma & Louise was a well-known political activist on the left and then became a more divisive figure, especially during the 2016 US election when she failed to support Hillary Clinton to become America’s first female president.
In the current legal action, Sarandon said the Clarksburg, Massachusetts-based construction management firm’s owner misrepresented his qualifications, inflated invoices, charged for construction he never did, and did essentially nothing to justify being paid nearly $140,000 to act as the property’s caretaker under an agreement struck after the house was built.
The firm’s owner declined to comment. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages based on claims of breach of contract, unjust enrichment and fraudulent misrepresentation.
Sarandon won the best actress Oscar for the 1995 movie Dead Man Walking. She stars as the main villain in the superhero film Blue Beetle, which hit theaters on Friday.
