SHELBURNE — The release of Bill Cosby from prison on Wednesday afternoon could mean he is heading home to his estate in Shelburne. The estate on Bardwells Ferry Road is reportedly where Cosby and his wife, Camille, were known to spend some of their summers and holidays.
The actor was released about two years into a three-to-10-year sentence at a state prison in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out the 2018 convictions brought against him for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting Temple University employee Andrea Constand. Multiple news sources have reported that Cosby is expected to return to his home in Shelburne in the coming days to spend time with his wife.
It is undetermined how long Cosby intends to stay in Shelburne if he were to arrive; NBC10 Boston reported that he is expected to spend “a few weeks” alone with his wife in an “undisclosed location,” while other outlets have suggested, via anonymous sources, that he will only be in town for the weekend.
Despite the national news and interest surrounding Cosby’s release, Shelburne and neighboring Buckland are not expecting much change. In fact, there’s little local buzz regarding his possible return to Western Massachusetts.
“Even before all of this happened,” said Shelburne Selectboard Chair Andrew Baker, referring to the time before Cosby was sent to prison, “they generally kept a pretty low profile.”
Baker recalled that those living at the Cosby estate traditionally kept to themselves. The locals let them be, he said, and they interacted little in return.
In nearby Buckland, Police Chief Jim Hicks sees no issue or conflict with the return for similar reasons to Baker’s.
“He’s never really hung out in Buckland. People have seen him in the businesses in Shelburne over the past years but (he was) never really out that much,” Hicks stated in a voicemail on Friday.
The Shelburne Police Department was unavailable for comment by press time.
Cosby was reported by WCVB news to be leaving the Philadelphia area at 1 p.m. on Thursday, July 1. As of Friday at noon, the Cosby estate in Shelburne was deserted. No signs of life, vehicles or people, were observed on or around the property.