Horse county in Bedford Village
Like the Hamptons, summer retreat towns in northern Westchester are seeing their rental markets gain strength for the first time since the downturn, according to the New York Times. Towns like Bedford and Pound Ridge are seeing increased activity from renters, who prefer the more private, lower-key semirural towns to the paparazzi-and-traffic-laden options on Long Island’s East End. [more]
The Scarsdale home that reportedly belongs to Jay-Z and Beyonce
Westchester towns known for their million-dollar homes are bristling with sales activity — from buyers seeking homes for half that amount.
The New York Times reported that well-heeled towns like Scarsdale, Bedford, Armonk, Pelham, Larchmont and Irvington are experiencing unprecedented activity in the $500,000 to $600,000 price bracket. [more]
A Supreme Court judge has handed down a decision in favor of developer Donald Trump against the Nature Conservancy and a group of individuals, giving Trump an easement necessary for him to finalize Trump Seven Springs, a mega-development planned for three towns — New Castle, Bedford and North Castle, all in Westchester County.
The Nature Conservancy had long objected to Trump’s proposed use of a segment of Oregon Road in North Castle as an access point to the 230-acre residential development, which will contain a plethora of mansions situated on 10-acre lots, filing an injunction to halt access in 2008. The conservancy cites in the injunction potential traffic issues and damage to a surrounding Eugene and Agnes Meyer nature reserve.
Because of the ruling, dated May 27, the Trump Organization’s project team, lead by The Donald’s son Eric, has already begun moving forward with the final stages of engineering, planning and architectural work necessary to begin development. [more]
While Westchester County boasts a glut of wealthy and famous residents, high society property owners appear to cluster in the Town of Bedford, according to Shelterpop. The town, comprised of three hamlets, Katonah, Bedford Village and Bedford Hills, claims Martha Stewart, financier George Soros, Ralph Lauren and husband and wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas as residents. Lauren, who has lived there since the early 1990s, owns one of the largest swatches of land there. His 17,000-square-foot house sits on more than 250 acres of land. The designer can call Stewart a neighbor — her $15 million, 150-plus-acre working farm sits adjacent to Lauren’s. [Shelterpop] [more]
Lambasted for allowing Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy to stay on his Bedford property this week, Donald Trump fired back today, alleging that he was unaware that the controversial Khadafy was on his estate. According to a statement from the Bedford Town Supervisor Lee Roberts, Trump said he was under the impression that he had made a deal with partners in the United Arab Emirates, not Khadafy, who came to town this week for the United Nations General Assembly. Khadafy was ordered off the Trump estate two days ago, when town officials announced that the tent he had set up in the back yard was a code violation.
