Hamptons Gardiner estate on sale for $29M

One of the Hamptons’ most elaborate restoration projects, the Gardiner Estate at 127 Main Street in East Hampton, has gone on sale for $29 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. Once occupied by Robert David Lion Gardiner, a descendant of the prominent Long Island family that has owned Gardiner’s Island on Long Island or nearly 400 years, the current owner of the estate is Shahab Karmely, a New York-based real estate investor. Records show he purchased the 5.4-acre property and house for nearly $9 million in 2005. The home’s listing agent, Tim Davis of the Corcoran Group, however, says Karmely put at least $10 million worth of improvements into the five-bedroom, eight-and-a-half-bath home, which was built in the 1930s. Karmely also made upgrades, including adding geothermal heating and a closed-circuit TV system that monitors the home from 32 security cameras. Davis says the Karmelys are selling the home because they plan to spend more time in Europe. [WSJ]