Ford estate fetches $105M, a Hamptons “record” but far below ask

Southampton home initially listed at $175M had been seeking $145M

Henry Ford II and the massive, 42-acre Ford estate at Jule Pond in Southampton, Long Island (Bespoke Real Estate, Motorcities National Heritage Area)
Henry Ford II and the massive, 42-acre Ford estate at Jule Pond in Southampton, Long Island (Bespoke Real Estate, Motorcities National Heritage Area)

The seller of the Southampton estate formerly belonging to Henry Ford II did not cling to her aspirational pricing, settling for a mere $105 million for a property she initially listed at two-thirds more than that. Still, that was enough to be reportedly the priciest sale of a single parcel in Hamptons history.

Brenda Earl, portfolio manager and former partner at Zweig-Dimenna, sold the estate at 90 Jule Pond Drive for $105 million, according to Dirt. The buyer is an offshore company based in the Cayman Islands, which Dirt believes is connected to the Richard Funk family, based in Florida.

Setting aside the “single parcel” tag, the priciest Hamptons home sale remains hedge funder Barry Rosenstein’s $147 million purchase in 2014 of an 18-acre beachfront estate at 60 Further Lane in East Hampton.

The $105 million sale ends a humbling (sort of) four-year saga for Earl, who bought the property from Italian financier Carlo Traglio for $21.75 million in 2002. The 42-acre estate with both ocean and pond frontage hit the market in August 2017 at $175 million. About two years later, the seller cut the price to $145 million.

In the spring, Bespoke Real Estate announced on Instagram that the property was under contract, hailing the agreed-upon price as the most ever paid for a single Hamptons property, but not divulging the actual number.

The big discount might have had something to do with that. Not that $105 million is anything to sneeze at.

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Throughout its time on the market, the estate has been one of the most expensive listings in the Hamptons. No properties there sold for more than $60 million during the first four months of the year.

The property was once part of a 235-acre estate owned by Henry Ford’s grandson. After Ford II divorced Anne McDonnell, she gained control of the property and broke it up into smaller parcels, including the 20,000-square-foot home on Jule Pond.

The buyer is getting more than 1,200 linear feet of ocean frontage, access to three ponds, plus the typical sprawling main house of 12 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. Amenities include a heated gunite pool, spa, outdoor kitchen, outdoor shower, tennis court and basketball court.

Cody and Zachary Vichinsky of Bespoke, Ellen Stern of William Pitt and Julia B. Fee of Sotheby’s International Realty shared the listing.

[Dirt] — Holden Walter-Warner