Hollywood in the Hamptons

The Hamptons have played host to Hollywood luminaries for decades. Back at the beginning of the last century such iconic thespians as Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Mary Pickford, and Ethel Barrymore sought refuge on a tranquil North Haven peninsula, later named for them: Actors Colony Road. Richard Gere just sold Strongheart, his sprawling Peconic Bay-front estate there, to Matt Lauer for roughly half the original asking price of $65M.

Silver screen heartthrob Gary Cooper was a fixture on Southampton’s society scene after his marriage to a prominent socialite in 1933. Not only did the couple frequent all the right clubs and parties, they are also buried in the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Southampton.

Marilyn Monroe and her then husband playwright Arthur Miller stayed in a former windmill in Amagansett. The structure, converted to a residence in the 1950s by cosmetics mogul and Fabergé founder Samuel Rubins, still stands and is currently on the market for $8.5M, listed by Bobby Rosenbaum of Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

But until the 1970s Tinsel Town Hamptonites were few and far between. The new wave started when media mogul Steve Ross built a compound on West End Road, a bucolic East Hampton lane tucked between the ocean and Georgica Pond – a road that eventually became so populated with masters of the universe that real estate legend, Allan Schneider, called it the “street of dreams.”
Since then the parade of Hollywood honchos has continued apace. Over the years dream makers from Lauren Bacall (sublime) to assorted Kardashian siblings (ridiculous) have resided here, in the latter case the family’s thankfully short stay was likely designed to use the area to give their brand a touch of class.

Ross was followed in 1983 by his protégé, Steven Spielberg, his actress wife Kate Capshaw and their brood of kids, who set up residence on a three-acre spread down the road, which they bought for $1.250M, a steal even then. Both Ross and Spielberg continued to add on parcels from adjoining properties creating spectacular, yet hidden, fiefdoms. The Jaws director’s estate features such amenities as an editing bay and horse stables. But mostly it boasts a lot of land, most of which is there to prevent anyone from blocking his view or viewing him.

Ross’s widow, Courtney Sale Ross put the 5.5-acre property her husband had amassed on the market in 2013 for the eye-popping price of $75M. It was bought a year later for $50M by another Hollywood hotshot, entertainment mogul David Geffen. Within two years the DreamWorks cofounder (along with Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg) put the four-parcel property back on the market, pocketing $67.3M earlier this year. You don’t have to be a math wiz to compute that he made a $17M profit. It was bought by UpIsland developer, Villadom Corporation, the builder of the Lighthouse Landing subdivision in Sag Harbor and 22 homes in Bridgehampton and Sagaponack. Perhaps they will build houses worthy of a film idol.

In his high-stakes game of Hamptons Monopoly, Geffen has purchased a two-acre oceanfront estate on tony nearby Lily Pond Lane for $70M, actually not a huge sum when you consider that his net worth is estimated at $6.5 billion. The music and film impresario has since made a request to the village to make extensive alterations to the property that he purchased from the estate of Josephine Chaus. The desired renovations, which would cost about $2M, include adding a 1,045-square-foot garage with roof terrace, expanding a pool patio and constructing walkways.

Amagansett: Beverly Hills East
The Hollywood old guard has paved a way for the next generation of Hollywood heavyweights, who have made Amagansett a sort of Beverly Hills East. Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, Jerry Seinfeld and family, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Alec and Hilaria Baldwin, are all firmly ensconced in the hamlet. Liev Schreiber (AKA Ray Donovan) and his wife, Naomi Watts, have made their home in a 6,000+ square-foot-house set behind hedges in the Lanes section. While they had listed that house last year for $5.85M, they took it off the market this summer. Meanwhile they just purchased a $5.4M Montauk manse with expansive ocean views. The glittering duo will co-star this fall in The Bleeder, about heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner.

Newcomer Scarlett Johansson resides in an oceanfront abode on the Napeague stretch, convenient to the Southampton waterfront house where she spent late summer filming a new movie. “Rock That Body,” about a bachelorette party where a male stripper ends up dead, is being dubbed “The Female Hangover.”

Other stars such as Renee Zellweger, who recently sold her home in East Hampton, have come and gone. And, though Madonna has a horse farm in Bridgehampton, and Jennifer Lopez owns a Water Mill estate, sightings of those superstar divas are rare.

While the stars come out here, like everyone else, to relax in the East End’s quiet idyll, often their “private” moments are the fodder of gossip columns worldwide. An August article in London’s Daily Mail noted that Sarah Jessica Parker and hubby Matthew Broderick “looked relaxed as they were seen picking fresh veggies.” It went on to pronounce that “Sarah went makeup free and wore a light blue tank-style summer dress… as they picked carrots and tomatoes for a farm-to-table meal.” Even with such invasive coverage, the Hamptons will no doubt continue to be an enticing refuge for Hollywood’s glitterati.