Hot Sales and Listings

With a Dollop of Hamptons Gossip.

A Lotta Coffey Beans 
So now we know who bought Jule Pond/Fordune: it’s Manhattan-based hedge fund manager Greg Coffey. Though the estate was technically acquired by an offshore company based in the Cayman Islands, it was the Australian-born trader, nicknamed the Wizard of Oz, who treated himself to the epic estate, which cost him a cool $105 million. The veteran Wall Street wizard can swing it, though; his $4 billion Kirkoswald Asset Management has risen 9% so far this year, after returning a whopping 23% last year.

The sale has broken records as the most expensive single parcel ever sold in the Hamptons. Listing agents were Zach and Cody Vichinsky of Bespoke. The Water Mill property boasts 42 acres of prime property and the longest stretch of private oceanfront in the area, nearly a quarter of a mile.

Weighing in at a massive 20,000 square feet, the main house was built by Henry Ford II, grandson of the Ford Motor Company founder. The main living spaces include a 48-foot-long living room, family, game and recreation rooms, and a 20’ by 28’ kitchen. There are 12 bedrooms in all, including two master suites, and 12 bathrooms, plus a couple of powder rooms. In addition to the main house, the property features a separate three-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath carriage house, plus a detached six-car garage. Welcome to the Hamptons, Wizard!

Big Rental Ask
A brand new oceanfront mansion built by Farrell Building on Surfside Drive in Bridgehampton is available to rent for the month of July for $1.65 million. Sounds like a lot, but each day costs just $53,225. Can you really put a price on the perfect summer? (Well, actually, yes.) Set on one-acre of land, the not-quite-finished estate includes a 10,000 square foot, 8-bedroom, 9-bathroom mansion, with an elevator to access all three floors. There will be a surfside pool and a finished roof deck, all ready for summer entertaining. The property is listed
with Saunders & Associates.

Massive House, Massive Price
Neighboring that nice Mr. Rennert’s Fair Field, also along the ocean, is a more modest (and better looking) residence, built in 2013 and designed by Bates Masi + Architects. The homeowners, financial whiz Eric Semler and wife Tracy Chutorian Semler, had the house on and off the market several times over the years, with asking prices that went as high as $60 million. The property ended up selling in an off-market transaction that closed in January. The recorded sale price is $50 million, and the buyer a typically anonymous LLC. (Interestingly, property records show the transfer as a non-arm’s-length transaction, which means the seller and buyer have a personal relationship.)

The Semlers bought the 3.2-acre property, with its 300 feet of oceanfront, in 2006. The house is so gorgeous, it’s won numerous architectural awards and was even once featured in a Chanel No. 5 commercial, directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Gisele Bündchen. Outside, there are an oceanside pool, pool house and a tennis/sport court, plus a rooftop deck with kitchen, fireplace and spa tub. And of course, the always coveted beach and ocean lies right outside the back door.

Mercedes Buys and Sells in East Hampton
As a native New Yorker and year-round Hamptonite, the award-winning stage, screen and television actress Mercedes Ruehl has bought and sold multiple houses in East Hampton. Recently, her former property in Springs sold for its full asking price of $1.695 million, coming up on double the $958,000 she paid for the place in 2017.

Ruehl’s new house, in East Hampton’s northwest measures in at a modest and manageable 1,300 square feet, about half the size of her former 2,500-square-foot house. Ruehl paid $1.325 million for the slightly more than half-acre property, which was listed with Triplemint. Inside, there is a large living room with vaulted ceilings and skylights that keep the house light and airy. A cozy fireplace is flanked by sliders to the deck outside. 

The first order of business for Mercedes, it seems, would be to add a big bookshelf to the living room. After all, she needs somewhere to display her Oscar and Golden Globe awards, along with her Tony and Drama Desk awards, two Obie Awards, and two Outer Critics Circle Awards.

Hooray for the CPF!
Despite low real estate inventory, January 2022 saw the biggest monthly revenue in the 23-year history of the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund: $24.69 million. That contrasts with January 2021, when the sum was $21.07 million. Funded by a 2% tax on most real estate purchases, the program supports open space, preservation of farmland, and most recently, clean water.

Huge real estate transactions, like the $105 million sale of the Jule Pond estate as well as a $118 million trade on several parcels in Water Mill, drives the numbers higher. So far this year, the market shows no signs of slackening. 

Southampton Town collected the most in January with $14.55 million, while East Hampton took in $7.32 million, 27.1% more than January 2021, the second-biggest spike. Riverhead brought in $680,000 in January 2022.

Sail On Inn
The ancient and venerable Canoe Place Inn in Hampton Bays, which is being renovated, will now include 37 private townhouses for guests. Rechler Equity Partners are projecting an opening of the Canoe Place Inn & Cottages, overlooking the canal, with 20 guest rooms and 5 guest cottages, by summer. What used to be the Hampton Boathouses are now rebranded as the Canoe Place Boathouses. The nearly six-acre property will also feature a 350-seat event space and 90-seat restaurant with outdoor seating for 120 guests.

The 37 townhouses include a mix of two-, three-, and four-bedroom units on the Shinnecock Canal. The plan had originally been to sell the townhouses to individual buyers, but recently, the Southampton Town Board rezoned to allow the townhouses to be operated as a resort, like the rest of the Canoe Place Inn. Amenities include a clubhouse, full-service spa, heated pool, fitness center, boat slips and a beach shuttle. 

Hello, Roberta!
Roberta’s, a popular Brooklyn restaurant known for wood-fired pizzas will be opening in the old Arbor space in Montauk. The restaurant at 240 Fort Pond Road sold in January for $3 million in an off-market deal. This sounds like a great idea — we were underwhelmed by both the food at Arbor and the location. A pizzeria and casual eatery sounds like a great solution. But look out, Montauk also sports the venerable Pizza Village, the beloved Sausages, and the new and excellent Blade + Salt for pizza joints. May the best ‘za win.

Rare but New 
Just listed publicly for the first time ever, the property at 10 Roberts Lane in East Hampton is a one in several generation’s opportunity to own a rare 19th century farmstead property of 3.54 open acres on the immediate outskirts of East Hampton Village. It’s exclusively represented by Martha Gundersen and Paul Brennan of Douglas Elliman, with an asking price of $5,950,000.

The main house is a beautifully restored 19th century farmhouse with lots of original detailing and modern upgrades, and the property also includes a studio, cottage and an antique barn that now serves as a pool pavilion. This wonderful character-filled farmstead, with its tastefully updated and restored farmhouse and outbuildings, blends authentic period detail perfectly with the sophisticated needs of today’s contemporary lifestyle. All the well-proportioned rooms of the immaculate main house flow together effortlessly, giving a sense of elegance, comfort, and calm with views overlooking 100 year old specimen trees and the farm’s gracious acres.

Ch-Ch-Changes
A solution-driven, goal-oriented approach links the chapters of Jeff Carter’s career and has contributed most significantly to his successes — initially in advertising, market research, and publishing with such prestigious names as the Wall Street Journal and U.S. News & World Report, and later as an interior designer and the creator of a design and construction company. These qualities also fuel his current success as a real estate sales professional with Brown Harris Stevens, as well as the Director of his namesake interior design firm. In his spare time, Jeff enjoys gardening and growing vegetables, cooking, biking workouts, or beach-time with his partner and their dogs.   

Kristen Smyth comes to The Corcoran Group after five years in real estate and fifteen years in the fashion design business she has spent her entire career in sales working for such companies as Bergdorf-Goodman and GAP. She believes that patience and tenacity, along with treating each customer with the same care, no matter the size of the deal, have led her business to grow quickly. From her past business experience, she is able to guide customers through the negotiation process with an eye towards value and potential. A longtime member of the Westhampton Yacht Squadron, she has served on their board for many years. She and her husband love historic homes and are active members of the Remsenburg Association and Peconic Baykeeper. They live in Remsenburg with their two sons and two great dogs.