From top left: Stuart Epstein of Halstead Property, John Gicking of Sotheby's East Hampton and a for sale sign in the Hamptons
East Hampton wants to shrink the size of real estate signs, and surprisingly, many local brokers are on board.
Patch reported that the village board heard arguments from supporters and opponents of a bill that would restrict the size of real estate signs to 1.5 square feet from 7 square feet. [more]
A supposedly haunted mansion in East Hampton has been sold for $9.25
million, according to Newsday.
The rumored ghostly inhabitants of the property may have caused its
price to drop from $19.5 million, the paper suggests.
The house is the former home of late Hamptons antiques dealer Barton
Kaplan, who died in 2002. His friend, Sam Wagner, has been discussing
the rumors in newspaper reports, saying that the building is not just
haunted by Kaplan, but also by Montauk Indians buried on the grounds
hundreds of years ago. [more]
Donna Karan and her East Hampton compound
Clothing designer Donna Karan was the buyer of a $3.775 million home in East Hampton adjacent to three other beachfront homes she owns, the New York Post reported, bringing the total value of her compound to $20 million. The purchase of 52 Hedges Banks Drive, which was listed by Billy O’Neil of Sotheby’s International Realty, closed in June, according to previous reports.
Karan already owned the property at 48 Hedges Banks Drive, which she bought for about half of its current $2.4 million value 14 years ago, the bungalow at 50 Hedges Banks Drive and the mansion at 54 Hedges Banks Drive, where her daughter lives. The latter two properties are estimated to be worth $2 million and $6 million, respectively, the Post said. [Post] [more]
A luxury rehab center for recovering addicts called the Dunes is opening in East Hampton, Business Insider reported.
Located at 201 Fort Pond Boulevard, the center is responding to “the great need,” for a facility that offers “comprehensive recovery care in an estate-like setting in the tri-state area,” according to its website. Inspired by the high-end recovery facilities that dot the west coast, the Dunes will have a sophisticated menu with “both compelling visual and gustatory appeal,” a three-to-one staff-to-client ratio, upscale room designs and amenities such as a pool, spa, tennis court, gym, media room and massage parlor.
In other words, it’s exactly like your typical multi-million dollar Hamptons mansion — before the party guests arrive. [more]
New attractions and a rezoning are on deck for the village of Southampton as the community vies for the kind of foot traffic its rival Hamptons towns enjoy, according to the Wall Street Journal. The village was hit with two major setbacks recently as the Saks Fifth Avenue store shuttered and the Parrish Art Museum announced it would move to the neighboring village of Water Mill. But new plans are calling for a rezoning of Southampton’s business district and a transformation of the Parrish building into a mixed-use cultural center. [more]
Sotheby’s International Realty agent Bill Williams has been named the exclusive advisor to the Town of East Hampton Airport, the brokerage announced today. The distinction comes with exclusive advertising rights for the real estate and home builder category in the corporate and private jet terminal of the airport, allowing Williams to promote his listings without competition. Williams, a broker for six years, will retain the exclusive advertising contract through April 2012, according to Sotheby’s. TRD [more]
Restoration Hardware has taken over the former Tommy Hilfiger space in East Hampton, with general positive reactions from locals. No word yet on when the retailer will move into the Main Street location, but work has already begun on preparing the space. The East Hampton Business Alliance, meanwhile, has given the retailer the thumbs-up. [Curbed]
A Greenwich Village penthouse now available for rent has a history of artistic residents. The 4,500-square-foot triplex at 508 Laguardia Place — currently asking $26,000 per month — was for years the home of famed fashion photographer Markus Klinko, currently co-star of the Bravo reality show “Double Exposure.” The home has four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms, and is listed with Bond New York’s Janine Young. Klinko now lives at 515 East 72nd Street, where the first season of “Double Exposure” was filmed. But he lived and worked at 508 Laguardia Place for about seven years while he was making his name as a photographer, the building’s owner, Josh Weiss, said. During that time, it was common to see stars like Jennifer Lopez entering the converted factory, located between Bleecker and West Houston streets, to be photographed by Klinko, Weiss said. Click here for more.
While many so-called “trophy homes” are kept under lock and key in the Hamptons, Jerry Della Femina, the owner of the popular Della Femina restaurant and the advertising executive noted for his work on the Meow Mix singing cat campaign, has opened the doors to his East Hampton home in this Wall Street Journal video. The $35 million home, which recently dropped its price down from $40 million, is among the many high-end listings that are clawing for buyers in the lethargic Hamptons market. The listing hit the market this spring.
Marking only the second sale
over $20 million this year, a $25.5 million, three-acre estate on Lily Pond Lane has found a buyer. Home sales in the Hamptons have rebounded strongly from last year’s lull, with 636 single-family homes selling in the second quarter, an 85 percent increase from the previous year, according to Suffolk Research Service. Still, expensive deals have been scarce in the Hamptons this year, the Wall Street Journal reported. Public records show that the only other sale above $20 million so far in 2010 was Joanne Corzine’s sale of her 6.5-acre property for $43.5 million to hedge fund manager David Tepper, which closed in May. In this most recent transaction, the buyer of the 10,000-square-foot landlocked estate is Richard Parkoff, head of the Parkoff Organization, a New Jersey-based company that owns apartment buildings in New York City. According to PropertyShark.com, the seller is Carol Morgan, the widow of Ron Morgan, the former CEO of Bank of New York Mellon subsidiary Pershing in London. John Golden of Prudential Douglas Elliman had the listing. The home features three separate dining rooms, a solarium, a guest house, a tennis court and a pool. Notable neighbors include billionaire investor Carl Icahn and designer Martha Stewart. [WSJ]
