The Hamptons Cottages & Gardens 2008 Idea House.
2003: THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL? | The fourth most expensive home in the world, Ira Rennert’s Fair Field in Sagaponack, not only broke the record in terms of size, it also broke the mold. Rumored to be worth $200 million, the 100,000-square-foot Italianate mansion (with 29 bedrooms and 39 bathrooms) was completed in 2003 on 63 oceanfront acres, which Rennert purchased for a reported $11 million. Public outcry prompted Southampton Town to put a limit of 20,000 square feet on future residences.
The Hamptons Cottages & Gardens 2007 Idea House.
2005: TRAVERTINE TRAVESTY | Gordon Bunshaft’s 1963 concrete Travertine House on Georgica Pond. Sold by Martha Stewart to Donald Maharam in 2005.
2007: GREEN ACRE$ | 40-acre Further Lane oceanfront estate. Sold by Adelaide de Menil and Edmund Carpenter sold to neighbor Ron Baron in May 2007.
2007: FAMOUS FOR 15 MINUTES–AND $27 MILLION | While there was nary a Sub-Zero fridge or Carrara marble counter in sight, Paul Morrissey’s Eothan in Montauk (originally listed for $50 million) sold for $27 million in 2007 to J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler. What the bluff-side cottages belonging to Morrissey and the late Andy Warhol could claim was that the Rolling Stones, Jackie O, Elizabeth Taylor (the subject of Warhol’s Men in Her Life, which fetched $63.4 million at auction), Liza Minnelli and a gaggle of Victoria’s Secret models all slept there. Morrissey and Warhol reportedly bought the original 20 acres in 1971 for $225,000.
2009: BROKERS WITH BADGES | Most unique real estate agent: Federal Marshals, acting in conjunction with Corcoran representatives, seized Bernie Madoff’s Montauk home in order to sell it, for $9.4 million, in September (the asking price was $8.75 million). Was it notoriety at work, or the fact that with stricter building laws you just can’t get this close to the ocean anymore?
The pool at the Hamptons Cottages & Gardens 2005 Idea House.
2005 HC&G Idea House | Richard Ekstract, who founded HC&G in 2002 partly to satisfy the Hamptons’ obsession with real estate, knows a thing or two about houses. For several years during his tenure, the magazine built, photographed and published “Idea Houses,” essentially three-dimensional forums for designers, architects and builders to show off their talents. Ekstract currently lives in this Idea House, built in 2005 in Bridgehampton.
The living room of the 2006 Idea House, in Water Mill, was decorated by Jennifer Mabley and Austin Handler of Mabley Handler, who also design-directed the project.
On Point | The 55-acre Tyndal Point compound in North Haven features three houses, two carriage houses and 3,000 feet of shoreline.
On Point | View from the dock of the Tyndal Point compound in North Haven.
YACHT-ZEE! | Five-bedroom Southampton Village compound, with pool and tennis court, includes a 78-foot luxury motor yacht and crew for 28 days. July–Labor Day, $350,000; call Tim Davis at Corcoran, 631-283-7300, x211.
LAST STAND | The saga is over: Pike’s Farm Stand, on Sagg Main Street in Sagaponack, stays.
RELOCATING? | Frank Lloyd Wright’s Bachman Wilson house might be the new kid on the block in the Houses at Sagaponac. $5 million; listed with Amelia Doggwiler, 631-204-2426, and Ingrid Brownyard, 631-725-5576, of Brown Harris Stevens.
HISTORIC HOME | Sold in Sag Harbor village: fully restored captain’s manse.
HISTORIC HOME | Sold in Sag Harbor village: Sleight House.
This article appears in the June 2011 issue of Cottages & Gardens.