Montauk architectural prize winner back on market for $29.5M

The Montauk home

An American Institute of Architecture award-winning residential compound in Montauk has reentered the market for $29.5 million.

The oceanfront property at 230 and 234 Old Montauk Highway, which includes a 7,600-square-foot main house and 2,400-square-foot guest home, was on the cover of the Robb Report after it was built in 2006 and was featured in the New York Times.

The home was previously on the market for $35 million in 2007, according to Michael Schultz, a senior vice president with the Corcoran Group, who is marketing the listing with Susan Ryan, also a Corcoran agent. The property was temporarily de-listed, in part to ride out the rough market, Schultz said. He had been the original listing agent, along with Sotheby’s in a co-broker arrangement. Schultz declined to comment on the current owners’ identities.

With its unique architectural features, Schultz admits the listing isn’t suited to all buyers.

“It’s certainly going to be someone who appreciates modern architecture and modern design,” Schultz said. “It’s a small house, so it’s not going to work for a big family — maybe an older couple with grown children [out of the house].”

Still, Schultz argued that the four-bedroom, six-bathroom listing, is an attractive opportunity for Hamptons buyers.

“Oceanfront properties still trade at a premium because they’re rare,” Schultz said, who said he’s seen waterfront listings do well, even with “softness in the market.”

James Biber, who was with Pentagram Architects when he designed the home but has since launched Biber Architects, said that the home was inspired by post-war California architectural trends, which include sleek facades, and “low-slung, indoor-outdoor” living areas, Biber said. Biber collaborated with the current owners, a Michigan couple with a penchant for mid-century and modernist furniture, when seeking out inspiration for the home.

“It’s been one of those houses that’s really struck a cord [with the architectural community]. It fits so nicely on the site,” Biber said.

Although he admits that an architecturally unique home doesn’t necessarily have mass-market appeal, Biber said that he’s confident that the right buyer will come along.

“One of the problems with designing for the market [is that] it’s designing for ‘normal people’ and there are no normal people,” Biber said. “There are lots and lots of single families, combined families, gay families, generational families… I find this notion of the ‘typical house’ is a bit of a misnomer.”