Realty Check Labor Day

Designer Digs
Fashion designer Stella McCartney has purchased a house in Amagansett for $1.5M. The relatively humble abode – three bedrooms, two baths – is sited on a mere .79 of an acre on the north side of the Napeague Stretch. But it does have bay views. At least she and her husband, a publisher, and their four kids can pop in on her dad, Sir Paul McCartney, on his much larger nearby property. The listing agents were Diana and Dawn Neway of Douglas Elliman.

Price Chop
When art collector Adam Lindemann purchased Andy Warhol’s former Montauk “Eothen” compound late last year for $50 million, he also placed his Cliff Drive home, high atop the Montauk bluffs, on the market. The original asking price of $29.5M has been slashed by $4.5M to a neat $25M. The 7,500 sf contemporary manse was designed by celebrated architect David Adjaye to feature ocean views from every room. The central focus is a dramatic great room with a “soaring double-sided fireplace” and “sweeping wall of French doors,” according to listing agent Rylan Jacka, of Sotheby’s International Realty. Multiple terraces and dining areas can accommodate large gatherings for those interested in hosting ocean-view parties.

The Plot Thickens
Unless you’ve been living in a cave you’ve read with disgust accounts of a hedge funder’s outlandish party this past summer at his Sag Harbor AirBNB rental. Dubbed a “sprayathon,” hundreds of bikini-clad women and other party guests including rented midgets – the landlord was allegedly told there would only be a few dozen – sprayed each other with champagne and severely damaged the $20M property according to its owner. Party host Brett Barna, who rented the house for $27,000 for five days, subsequently lost his job at Louis Bacon’s Moore Capital Management because of the well-publicized shenanigans and was threatened with a million-dollar lawsuit by the homeowner. Then came the astonishing report that the owner, Omar Amanat, was arrested for fraud. Following that were countercharges by Barna that Amanat had sent him texts even before the party demanding another $13,000 and threatening him. Stay tuned. There’s sure to be more chapters of this outlandish story.

Sorry Ari
Bad boy movie star Jeremy Piven was turned down again to rent the Sag Harbor property he leased last summer, according to Jennifer Keil in the New York Post. The actor who famously played fictional uber agent Ari Gold in the TV and film versions of Entourage, apparently “enjoyed an “Entourage”-style blowout bro-cation with three guy pals” that has left the landlord unwilling to sign another lease. “Piven and his pals did not leave the contemporary waterfront home at 28 Long Point Road home in as pristine a condition as they had found it,” writes Keil. Piven paid circa $25,000 to enjoy the home’s 90-foot beach and saltwater pool for 2015’s July 4th weekend.

Moving on Up
North Sea is being gentrified. Coast Development Group of Riverhead is planning a $26M project featuring three 5,000 to 7,000 sf edifices on harbor-front land not far from where the infamous Kardashians vacationed last summer. The trio of residences (ranging from $6.5M to $14M) will feature floor-to-ceiling windows, the better to ogle views of North Sea Harbor.

Dream • Buy • Sell
Soon after purchasing a property on Lily Pond Lane for $70M in May, entertainment impresario David Geffen turned around and sold the 5.5-acre Georgica Pond estate he had bought for $50M from Courtney Ross two years ago. His sale price: $67.3 million. The West End Road property is a DVD’s throw from the summer residence of Geffen’s partner in DreamWorks, Steven Spielberg. While Geffen pocketed a hefty $17M in the deal, it is but a drop in the bucket of the mogul’s $7 billion net worth.

One and Only
Compass isn’t the only one playing the expansion game in the Hamptons. The folks at Douglas Elliman have acquired Sagaponack’s only real estate company, 46-year-old McCoy & McCoy. Founded by William McCoy, a former Southampton town justice and town councilman, the brokerage has served America’s most expensive zip code since 1970 when it was an agrarian backwater. “It is a terrific opportunity because Douglas Elliman will be the only brokerage in this very special and coveted locale,” says Elliman CEO Dottie Herman.

Lakefront Masterpiece
A “Normandy estate” on First Neck Lane with 400 feet of frontage on Lake Agawam and 8+ acres has come on the market for $65M. The impressive entrance is flanked by an allée of trees that herald the manicured lawns and “secret gardens” restored by landscape architect Edmund Hollander.

The 8,000 sf main house was styled by renowned designer Tony Ingrao. The property includes a separate almost 3-acre buildable lot. Listed with Tim Davis of the Corcoran Group.

Surfing USA
Artist Greg Miller, who makes striking Pop Art collages from recycled surfboards, is showing his new installation, “Made in America,” at Surfari Crossroads Gallery, on Main Street in Sag Harbor. Miller met Sotheby’s broker John Healey, also an avid surfer, over a real estate deal and the two opened the gallery last year.

The Italian Job
Anthony Sbarro, heir to the pizza empire, just finished building his Southampton dream house, but wound up buying another nearby property instead. So he is asking $32 million for the 14,000 sf, 9-bedroom home, which he has furnished with many custom-designed pieces including bronze door handles and a rug depicting a map of Southampton. Italian architect/designer Achille Salvagni selected all the fabrics, artwork and furniture for the home and had them shipped from Rome. Listed with Harald Grant of Sotheby’s International Realty.