Realty Check

Hot Sales and Listings with a Dollop of Hamptons Gossip 

Despite the doom and gloom filling the headlines about Hamptons real estate this autumn, mostly caused by lack of inventory, there are, as always, several bright spots and some big sales. 

New, Modern Montauk
Last year, Montauk saw a record price for non-waterfront construction, with 14 Maple Street selling for $14 million. Now, listed by Douglas Elliman’s Eklund Gomes Team are the Maple Villas — two more luxurious new houses offering unobstructed views of the Atlantic Ocean. These modern masterpieces are developed by Italian race car driver Alessandro Zampedri, who has embarked on a second career as a real estate developer in Montauk. 

The new villas are next door to 14 Maple. The new properties were designed inside and out by Italian architect Pierre Lissoni. Each comes fully furnished with pieces from the Lissoni collection. Asking $18.5M and $19.5M, each sits on nearly an acre with ocean views; they are nearing completion this fall. Local agents Kyle Rosko and Marcy Braun are partnered with Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes for the sales. The builder is Walker Ridge.

Backpedaling on Further Lane
Peloton co-founder John Foley sold his Further Lane, Amagansett, oceanfront house for $4 million less than he paid for it in 2021. Not too surprising given that Peloton stock plummeted after Covid-related lockdowns eased, and Foley was rumored to be interested in offloading the property just two months after his purchase.

The property, set on about four acres with 400 linear feet of oceanfront, traded for $51 million in May. Foley paid $55 million for it in December 2021. The property sold off the market, and it’s uncertain at press time who the brokers or buyers are. Hedgerow Exclusive Properties had the exclusive. 

Compound Interest 
Another big recent sale was the transfer of an oceanfront house in Southampton’s McDonnell-Murray Compound. On 2.64 acres, with 191 feet of ocean frontage, the house was built in 1992 and traded for $41 million. Bespoke Real Estate represented both the buyers and the sellers. 

The dwelling includes almost 8,000 square feet, with six bedrooms and seven and a half bathrooms. Outside, there’s a gunite swimming pool, a clay tennis court and a private duckwalk to the beach. The property was previously owned by apparel magnate Irving L. Rousso, a founder and president of Russ Togs, who died in 2017.

Sagaponack in Southampton
Much less new is an early 20th-century farmhouse in Southampton Village. The plot of land is deceiving, as the just over half an acre property is much deeper than it is wide. According to listing agent Pat Garrity, of Corcoran, the property is almost more like Sagaponack, with enormous plots and gardens, than it is the sedate village. But wander through the back gardens and you’re in another world, with gorgeous plantings and beautiful old trees.

Asking $3.895 million, the property has been owned for more than 50 years by artist Paul Waldman and his wife Diane Waldman, a director and curator at the Guggenheim. The Waldmans purchased the place with the legendary Roy Lichtenstein, who a few years later decided that he wanted his own house in Southampton, so the Waldmans bought him out.

Back in the days before anyone kicked up much of a fuss about zoning, Waldman and Lichtenstein added a large artist’s studio to the property and connected it and an old guest cottage to the main house. Today, the former guest house is a garden room, but it could be converted into a standalone home office.

White GEM
Up on Hedges Banks in the Northwest Woods of East Hampton, there’s a small enclave of bluff-front homes that belong to or formerly belonged to marquee names, including Donna Karan, Hugh Jackman, and of course, Sean “Diddy” Combs. Back in the day, Diddy’s white parties were legendary, attracting thousands of revelers and big celebrity names. 

All white inside and out, the house was quietly unloaded by Combs in 2020 for $4.7 million. It sold to finance guy Chad Let in 2022 for $5.5 million. Now, the property, overlooking Gardiner’s Bay, is asking $5.995 million via Laura U. White of Saunders & Associates.

The modern house offers 4,500 square feet, with four bedrooms and five and one-half bathrooms, is set on 0.92 of an acre. An open floorplan, double-height ceilings, and contemporary touches give the abode the feeling of a resort. Of course, there is a gorgeous (white) pool overlooking the bay.