Realty Check – October / Columbus Day 2016

By Zoe Langstrom

Positively Magical
Architectural Digest has featured a “tour” of Villa Maria, the grand former convent in Water Mill, which was restored to perfection by late fashion icon Vince Camuto. The restoration of the 21,000 square-foot, 11-bedroom estate was spearheaded by architect Andre Tchelistcheff, who constructed a loggia to link a wing of the residence with the carriage house. The 15-acre grounds were updated by landscape pooh-bah Edmund Hollander. “There was something magical about the place,” Camuto was quoted as saying. Listed by Bespoke Real Estate. $72M

Price Chopper
The children of celebrated biographer Barbara Goldsmith slashed the price of her Georgica Road estate two months after the author of the bestseller about Gloria Vanderbilt, Little Gloria, passed away at 85. Now priced at a shade under $6M, its original listing price in 2013 was $10.5M. The listing brokers of the 5,000 square-foot home built in 1900 on 1.15+ acres with award-winning grounds designed by eminent late landscape designer, James Van Sweden, are Douglas Elliman Real Estate’s Justin Agnello, Michaela Keszler and James Keogh.

Modern Masterpiece
A 1960s Sag Harbor beach house designed by acclaimed midcentury architect, Andrew Geller, has hit the market. A recent renovation by interior designer John Bjornen has brought the classic cottage up to date. Situated on over five acres, the grounds have been landscaped by Joseph Cornetta for a park-like setting. There is room for a tennis court and separate main house, making the original structure the pool house. Listing by Angela Boyer-Stump of Sotheby’s International Realty. $2.2M

No Deal
While the Town of East Hampton tried to preserve 30 acres of pastoral fields north of Amagansett’s Main Street, the family that owns the several land parcels has chosen to develop it. The Bistrians came to the conclusion that “the town is not willing to buy the property at fair market value” after 35 years of negotiations. Town policy forbids a purchase at more than a property’s appraised value. The land, which is in an agricultural zone, is also zoned for two-acre residential lots.

Very Presidential
The Italianate Sag Harbor manse known as President Chester A. Arthur’s “Summer White House” is for sale two years after being purchased by Anke Friedrich. Originally built in 1796 for a whaling captain, the imposing three-story, six bedroom dwelling at 20 Union Street has been meticulously remodeled by renowned architect Steven Gambrel to include a library with fireplace and kitchen/family room with fireplace overlooking the garden and pool. The upstairs bedrooms offer stunning village views. Asking $14.2M. Represented by Michaela Keszler of Douglas Elliman Real Estate and Felicitas Kohl of The Corcoran Group.

All in the Family
A trio of sisters, each with a home in a scenic 32-acre compound, have put the entire Sagaponack property on the market. Flanked by picturesque Poxabogue Pond and private wooded and farmland reserves, the private road leads to three pond-front homes. Siblings Marsha, Linda and Jane Held wanted to recreate the familial closeness their father experienced growing up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. There are also three 2-acre buildable lots and 18 acres of reserve for those who might want to start their own winery. Douglas Elliman Real Estate’s Paul Brennan is the listing broker. $65M.

Size Matters
The Town of East Hampton has been discussing new rules to limit the size of a house relative to the size of its lot. While Supervisor Larry Cantwell has admitted that the town “allows for larger houses than perhaps we should,” Kieran Brew, an agent at Saunders, has called the initiative “unreasonable, unfair, arbitrary and completely unnecessary.” Not only might the town devise a new formula for computing allowable square footage, it is also considering whether to include basement space when computing gross floor area depending on how “livable basement space” is defined. The good news is that a new size restriction will potentially result in up to 30 percent less development in the community. The bad news is the possible devaluing of existing properties.

Clubhouse Reborn
Sean MacPherson, owner of the Crow’s Nest in Montauk, is hoping to reconstruct the Montauk Association’s clubhouse, which burned down in 1933, as a private residence for his family. MacPherson plans to rebuild the exterior of the nearly 12,000 square-foot structure to its past glory. The former haunt for the owners of the hamlet’s Seven Sisters (landmark houses in one of which resides Dick Cavett), the shingle style clubhouse was designed in the 1880s by McKim, Meade, and White, and sited by Frederick Law Olmstead, the landscape architect behind Central Park. Lacking architectural plans, the land’s owner arranged for an archeological dig to locate the long-buried clubhouse foundation. The dig resulted in unearthing three foundations and original bricks and shingles.