Hot Sales and Listings

With a Dollop of Hamptons Gossip.

Rip Up the Record Books   
Sorry, Jule Pond. You’re no longer the top-selling property for 2021. Four parcels belonging to the Rabin family traded on December 30, off market, for a whopping $118.5 million, which must be a record for non-oceanfront in the Hamptons. On Cobb Lane in Water Mill, businessmen Arthur Rabin and son Jason Rabin sold their 21.3 acres of land, with two large houses, to four anonymous but similar-sounding LLCs with a variation of “Cobb Road Associates,” so we assume they all went to the same person.

The lucky buyer is getting two enormous mansions built in 2007. The waterside one, belonging to the elder Rabin, offers 8 bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms in 17,173 square feet. Jason’s place is slightly smaller, with 10 bedrooms in 15,970 square feet. Both residences include tennis courts, pools, and pool houses, while the larger one offers a dock on the bay.

The property was originally listed with NestSeekers and Hedgerow Exclusive Properties. 

Ron Perelman Sells Lily Pond Lane
Poor Ronald O. Perelman. Once touted among the world’s richest men, the businessman and investor says he wants to clean house and downsize to live a simpler life. Perhaps coincidentally, Perelman’s desire for a simpler life comes as his net worth plummeted. According to Forbes, Perelman is now worth a paltry $2.7 billion.

One of his pricier assets up for sale recently was his longtime oceanfront East Hampton property on Lily Pond Lane, which closed January 6 for $84 million to an anonymous LLC. Harald Grant at Sotheby’s was the listing broker.

The estate is very large at 9.25 acres, which includes 385 feet of ocean frontage. The house itself is a 1971 teardown, but it too is sizable at 11,425 square feet with 10 bedrooms and 11 full and 5 partial bathrooms, which means a similar sized modern home could be built on that footprint. Of course, the property includes a pool with pool house and a tennis court with a pavilion of its own. The listing notes that the possibility exists to subdivide the property. Having owned the property since the 80s, Perelman is set to make a very healthy profit on the sale. 

Sweet Southampton
A scion of a sugar empire has dropped $12.65 million on a pretty house in Southampton. Lourdes and Pepe Fanjul Jr. purchased a beautifully restored 1840 house on First Neck Lane, in Southampton’s estate section, back in November. Lori Schiaffino at Compass was the listing broker.

Pepe’s dad, Pepe Senior, controls both Florida Crystals, which farms 190,000 acres in south Florida, and American Sugar Refining, which currently owns the Domino brand, an empire valued at $8.2 billion. Pepe Jr. is vice president of Fanjul Corp and executive vice president of Florida Crystals. 

There’s plenty of room for extended family here, with ten bedrooms, six bathrooms, and two half-baths, all in 9,000 square feet. The plot isn’t huge at 0.76 of an acre, but of course there’s a beautiful hedged pool out back, as well as extremely pretty flower gardens and shrubbery.

Standout features of the interior include the carved Breche Violette marble fire surround in the drawing room (purple marble), the dining room wallpaper, hand-painted by Colefax & Fowler in London, the potting area, and the light cabinets showing off pottery in the breakfast room. Several of the bedrooms have access to large balconies overlooking the gardens.

BHS Acquires Christie’s International Real Estate’s NYC Brokerage
Did you know that Brown Harris Stevens is the leading privately held brokerage in the New York metro region — with the highest average sales price per agent in the country? Well, you do now.

Further expanding its footprint in New York City, BHS has acquired Christie’s International Real Estate’s New York City brokerage. “We are thrilled about taking on their New York City brokerage operation and exploring how we can work together in the future,” said BHS CEO Bess Freedman. 

BHS will welcome 20 of Christie’s NYC agents. “I’ve always had an admiration for Brown Harris Stevens, and their brand is iconic in the city of New York,” said Thad Wong, Christie’s International Co-CEO.

This expansion follows a period of growth for Brown Harris Stevens. In 2020, it added Halstead Real Estate’s 1,600+ agents; in 2021, the company logged a record-breaking year of business, with its New York City operations seeing the highest sales volume of any year in the company’s nearly 150-year history. Well done.

More than You Wanted to Know about ‘Summer House’
Can’t get enough of Bravo’s reality-based programs? Of course not! And “Summer House” is based right here in the Hamptons. But where was the latest series filmed? It’s a 6,500-square-foot house at 2136 Deerfield Road, between Sag Harbor and Water Mill. 

Summer House premiered in 2016, filming in a 4,500-square-foot beach house in Napeague. The next year, East Hampton denied Bravo a film permit. Undaunted, Bravo moved production to Water Mill, to 1451 Deerfield Road, a 6,500-square-foot home on a 5.2-acre plot.

This season’s property sold last year on June 22 for $4.6 million. Now, it’s available for sale again, listed with Craig Beem at Compass, for $5.995 million. Of course, the place is fairly large, 8,700 square feet including the finished lower level. There’s a new kitchen and a home theater, as well as the requisite pool for hilarious reality show hijinks, along with a spa, and a pool house with sun deck and an outdoor bar. The place was listed for rent for $250K for last summer; who knows how much a starstruck renter might pay this year. 

Streaming Kills Another One
The Westhampton Beach movie theater, Hampton Arts Cinema, closed since 2020, is for sale asking $1.1 million. Listing agent is Cushman & Wakefield. Unfortunately, movie theaters on the East End are becoming few and far between. In the Westhampton Beach theater’s case, Covid must also be blamed for its demise, as well as the rise of home streaming. The Southampton Village theater has remained closed since 2020 as well; the Hampton Bays UA theater may close in favor of a CVS. Montauk’s theater closed in 2014 and is now a SoulCycle. Now, there are just three movie theaters in the area, in East Hampton, Mattituck, and Sag Harbor.

The Westhampton building is in a very prime location, at the gateway to the village. The 8,500-square foot building is on a 0.23-acre plot. Zoned B-1 by Westhampton Beach, the property could be used for a retail store or possibly a restaurant under a special exception.