Realty Check

Hot Sales and Listings with A Dollop of Hamptons Gossip 

Welcome to Presidents’ Day weekend! On your marks, get ready, get set, go! It’s time to hunt down that fantastic summer rental. Or, better yet, move into your new Hamptons home. 

Livin’ Large
If you were the lucky purchaser of Mylestone, the enormous and enormously high-priced estate on Meadow Lane, Southampton, you’ll have plenty of room to spread out in. There are eight acres of oceanfront land and a 15,000-plus-square-foot main house. The final figure was $112.5 million, making it the highest priced trade in the area for 2023. Bespoke had the listing and Michael Koeneke of Compass brought the buyer.

Or if you missed out on Mylestone, perhaps you were high bidder for La Dune, the similarly massive Gin Lane estate. One of the most expensive properties ever listed in the Hamptons, it summoned a winning $88.48 million bid at Sotheby’s, which includes a 12% buyer’s premium that goes to the auctioneers and the real estate brokers who marketed it. The property, which has been on and off the market since 2016, had previously asked $150 million. It includes two mansions and four acres of oceanfront land. One of the houses, built in the late 1800s, is believed to have been designed by architect Stanford White; the other one was originally a guest cottage. Torn down in the early 2000s, the newer building closely resembles the older one. The most recent brokers repping the property were Sotheby’s International Real Estate’s Harald Grant, Corcoran’s Tim Davis and Bespoke’s Cody Vichinsky.

Livin’ High in Georgica
Another lovely historic estate has been recently listed, this time in the sought-after Georgica neighborhood in East Hampton. Situated on one of the highest elevations in the area, the $19.5 million property on Cove Hollow Road is repped by Paul Brennan and Martha Gundersen of Douglas Elliman.

Set on almost three acres, the main house was built in 1906 in the popular Shingle Style. Recently renovated, the 6,500 square foot house now sports seven bedrooms and six full and two half bathrooms. There are also living, dining, and a family room, all with wood-burning fireplaces, and a pantry with two Sub-Zero wine coolers.

Outside, the 1,194-square-foot pool house offers a kitchen, a bar, an additional bedroom and bathroom, a washer/dryer and a living space. An outdoor shower and a changing room complete the pool area, which also includes a spa. There’s also a three-car garage, with a gym and half-bath, and a tennis court.

Livin’ Saggy

Captains’ Row in Sag Harbor is one of the most prestigious addresses in the village. This cottage not only boasts Billy Joel as a neighbor; it faces the harbor and offers relaxing marina views. And of course, it is walking distance to the fabulous restaurants and shops in Sag Harbor, as well as Havens Beach. Asking just under $3 million, the property is repped by Cynthia R. Barrett at Brown Harris Stevens.

The house and land are petite, at 2,300 square feet and 0.08 of an acre, but both are typical for the area. Yet the property offers everything a new owner could need, including three to four bedrooms, a pretty gazebo, patio, and a garage with attic. The house’s vintage charm — think woodwork, hardware, and fireplaces — has been preserved, while the kitchen has been beautifully renovated to include an island. The primary suite boasts a fireplace, now converted to gas, and an en suite with a separate shower and bath. There’s also a study on the second floor that could easily be converted to a bedroom.

Livin’ Baldwin 
Alec Baldwin’s five-acre Amagansett property is back on the market, asking $19 million, a $10 million drop from its former ask. Scott Bradley and Michael N. Cinque of Saunders & Associates have the exclusive. The online listing includes a video of Baldwin talking about his love for the area. So why are you leaving, Alec? Sob.

“I fell in love with this place the moment I came here,” Baldwin says in the video. “You just can’t get this out here anymore. You can’t buy big pieces of land, especially in Amagansett. I’m always happiest when I come here, especially this time of year. I love it in the wintertime, it’s so peaceful and it’s so beautiful.” He also relates his earlier years in Amagansett; he rented on Bluff Lane and then bought on Old Montauk Highway.

One of the attractions of the property is the possibility of adding a second house, up to 10,000 square feet, as well as expand the main house, which Baldwin and wife Hilaria have expanded several times. The dwelling was originally a small saltbox on Main Street. The house was moved to Town Lane in the early 1900s, and was the home of a well-known local family until Baldwin and his former wife, Kim Basinger, purchased it in 1995. 

Not Eatin’
The site of Cyril’s Fish House, along Montauk Highway in Napeague, has once again been sold. Morty’s Oyster Stand sold for $2.4 million in December. Compass’s Hal Zwick and Jeff Sztorc repped the sellers and buyers.

The site was infamous in the past for overcrowding. Cyril Fitzsimmons had leased the property for many years from the Dioguardi family, but after years of disputes with East Hampton, the restaurant/bar, famed for its Bailey’s banana colada, finally closed in 2016. The property was sold to Jeremy Morton’s Out East Restaurant Group for $1.3 million in 2019. Morty’s Oyster Stand opened the next year but struggled to attract customers. Now the 0.57-acre property is owned by David J. Miller, who also owns one of the sites of the former East Deck Motel in Ditch Plains. Miller, an investor, also owns Mavericks restaurant in Montauk. Will Miller bring back the BBC? Only time will tell.