Richard Gere’s Connecticut Home Has Officially Been Demolished: Photo (Exclusive)

Richard Gere’s former Connecticut home has officially been demolished, PEOPLE can confirm. 

The Pretty Woman star, 75, and his wife Alejandra Gere, 42, sold the New Canaan, Conn., property for $10.75 million in October 2024 ahead of relocating to Spain. The 32-acre site will now be used to construct a nine-property development by the new owners. 

Reggie Young, founder of Hudson Valley House Parts, confirms to PEOPLE that the 1930s build is no longer standing, as seen in an exclusive aerial photo. Before it met the wrecking ball, the New York-based company worked with the developers who bought it to salvage the architectural gems inside, in partnership with their New Jersey location, Delaware Valley House Parts, and Green Circle Auctions.

“We recently checked in and the house has been taken down,” Young tells PEOPLE. “We are grateful that the buyers allowed us time to salvage and get everything out.”

Hudson Valley House Parts previously documented the architectural salvaging process in a video shared to their Instagram. The clip included a brief tour of previously unseen areas inside the home as they showed off some of the pieces they rescued, including the nautical-themed steel bay windows, the Greek Revival doorway and the carved limestone mantel.

“Many of the items from this project are still in our inventory at Delaware Valley House Parts in Lambertville, New Jersey and will eventually find homes where they are reused,” he adds. 

Young also expresses his gratitude to the new owners who allowed them to salvage these architectural elements before the home came down. 

“We are happy that the buyers are willing to give us the time to salvage while working with us in a way that allows us to employ our talented team and ultimately keep these materials out of a landfill,” he says. 

While Richard and Alejandra let go of the property so they could put down roots in Alejandra’s home country of Spain, she later admitted that their family has plans to move back to the U.S. in a few years.

The couple share two sons, Alexander, 6, and James, 5, together. Alejandra is also mom to son, Albert, 11, with ex-husband Govind Friedland, and Richard shares son Homer, 25, with ex-wife Carey Lowell.

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During an April 2024 interview with Vanity Fair Spain, Richard opened up about why the pair made the decision to relocate to Madrid.

“For Alejandra, it will be wonderful to be closer to her family, her lifelong friends and her culture,” he said at the time. “She was very generous in giving me six years living in my world, so it is only fair that I give her at least another six living in hers.”

He added that starting a life in Madrid would be a “great adventure” for their family.

The couple, who tied the knot in 2018, owned their Connecticut property for two years before deciding to sell it. The Runaway Bride star reportedly wanted to turn it into a farm at one point, according to local outlet, the New Canaan Advertiser​​.

They purchased the six-bedroom, 11-bathroom abode for $10.8 million in 2022 from the previous owners: Simon & Garfunkel musician Paul Simon and his wife Edie Brickell.

Simon and Brickell’s daughter Lulu Simon, 30, previously expressed her anger over her childhood home being torn down on her Instagram Stories in July. 

The singer claimed Gere promised her family that he would “take care of the land” when he purchased the property. While she also claimed it was a “condition of his purchase” to preserve the home, she did not go into any further detail on the alleged agreement.

Young, who has made a career of his passion for saving old homes, tells PEOPLE: “If people are particularly interested in preservation, they should get involved and ensure their communities create historic districts which are the only legal mechanism to keep things from being torn down. As long as zoning regulations are met, there is not much that can be done to save things.”

He adds, “We are seeing a huge increase in the number of houses that are going to be coming down. We are hoping to be part of a movement to connect people with objects that have meaning, history and beauty.”