Realty Check

We hear that …
The royals are coming to the Hamptons, at least according to OK! Magazine. The tabloid reports that “Wills, Kate, Prince George and Princess Charlotte” are meeting with brokers to snare a rental for “a large estate.”

Leonardo DiCaprio recently rented an 8,000SF Tuscan-style estate in Wainscott, according to StreetEasy. Leo is said to have paid $5,000 a night for the property, which is on the market for $4,995,000.

Bill and Hillary Clinton are weighing the pros and cons of renting in the Hamptons again this summer, as they have done for the past several years. But the presidential hopeful needs to portray a populist image, and one of the $200,000-a-month properties they’ve rented in the past may not do the the trick. “It may not be ideal for Mr. and Mrs. Clinton to be photographed mingling at summer cocktail parties with the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Alec Baldwin, Steven Spielberg and other wealthy Hamptons regulars,” according to the New York Times. One donor recommended that the couple vacation in “less-flashy Sag Harbor.”

The divorce negotiations of Real Housewives of New York’s Ramona Singer and her husband, Mario, have progressed to the point where she gets the Southampton house while her cheating spouse gets the New York pad. Meanwhile they’re splitting the $320,000 (or whatever they get) asked for the summer rental of the manse Ramona paid $875,000 for in 1995.

Polo No More
David Walentas, owner of Bridehampton’s Two Trees Farm, where polo ponies pounded the turf summers past, first put the entire 115-acre property up for sale in 2010 for $95 million before lowering it to $55 million. Switching strategies, he’s now selling it off in chunks and developing some of the land himself. Ubiquitous builder Joe Farrell is building five houses at circa $9 million each, two of which he’s already sold, according to the New York Post. Walentas is developing 12 estates, most of which are 1.8 to 3 acres, with the largest weighing in at a whopping 9.7 acres. Listing broker Christopher Burnside of Brown Harris Stevens says that three of the traditional homes have been designed by Fleetwood & McMullan Architects. Seems that Nacho Figueras and pals will have to find another field in which to swing their mallets.

New to Market
“Eothen”, (Greek for “from the east,”) was born in the ‘30s as a fishing camp for the Arm & Hammer family before Andy Warhol laid claim to the 30-acre Montauk compound in the ‘70s where he entertained such “beautiful people” as Jackie O., Mick Jagger, Liz Taylor and John Lennon. Fast forward to 2007 when J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler purchased the prime oceanfront estate replete with 24 acres of horse pasture and two Carl Fisher 20-stall stables for $27 million. The retail potentate has put it back on the market at $85 million, listed with Paul Brennan and Ronald White of Douglas Elliman.

Not Horsing Around
In 2009 Jeff Fagen, a bigwig at a sports lifestyle brand, and his wife, Isabel Rose, a writer/performer, bought a year-old, 12-bedroom stone and shingle house on eight acres on the outskirts of East Hampton Village. Since then the couple has added another 15 acres – an Eden of vegetable, fruit and flower gardens and an equestrian compound. $55 million buys the whole shebang including nine buildable lots. “There is literally enough cleared space for a regulation polo field,” Fagen told the New York Times. The listing agent is Dana Trotter of Sotheby’s International Realty.

Waterfront Exchange
Hudson Yards developer Jeff Blau has put his oceanfront Dune Road Bridgehampton mansion on the market for $32 million. Perched atop a sand bank, the six-bedroom abode renovated by builder Michael Davis also has views of Mecox Bay to go with the tennis court, pool, spa and playground. He bought the property in 2003 for $7.63 million. Looks like he’s using the proceeds to build a house in Wainscott where he purchased another waterfont propery for $25million in 2013 off Main Street. Terry Cohen of Saunders & Associates has the listing.

New Digs
Sotheby’s, which had an office off the beaten track in Sag Harbor, has opened up shop front and center in a spacious storefront between Sen and the American Hotel. The move has more than tripled its former size and is a highly visible testament to the village’s booming real estate market.

Local Fare
Wolffer Estate Vineyard is venturing out of Sagaponack to open a restaurant momentarily in Sag Harbor, to be called Wolffer Kitchen, in the space that last hosted The Cuddy. We hear that chef Deena Chafetz, known for Japanese and New Mexican food (and for teaching a chile workshop in Santa Fe) will source local ingredients to produce American fare with a Mediterranean twist. The first winery-owned restaurant in the Hamptons will focus on wine-friendly food and artisanal beverages including the winery’s own products along with “craft cocktails” and other select labels from Long Island and around the world. Joey Wolffer, who owns the Wolffer brand along with her brother, Marc, oversaw design of the restaurant along with Sagaponack’s Martin Architects. “Entertaining is a part of the Wölffer family DNA,” she says.

Joey Wolffer has been busy. The co-owner and founder of the mobile boutique, The Styleliner, opened its first brick-and-mortar store this summer, also in Sag Harbor. With a fashion background that includes a stint as a designer at Nine West, Christian Wolffer’s daughter sells her own line of chic handbags as well as her one of a kind finds including colorful ethnic habilliment, which she sources worldwide.