Author: Laura Euler

 

Cheer up, folks, summer is almost over! Although as far as we can tell, few of the city people are going back anyway, so get ready to stand on line just to get into the IGA for a few more months!

To distract yourself, take a look at the trailer for the next unbearable local reality series, “Million Dollar Beach House.” We’re thinking of printing up bingo cards and/or a drinking game to accompany the series. That is, if we make it past episode 1, which we usually don’t.

Excited yet? Us neither! As an actual local agent sniped at us, “They were calling other people’s exclusives and telling sellers, ‘Switch to us and we will get you on our TV show.’ They even took my seller to lunch. Everyone hates them.”

“Million Dollar Beach House” starts August 26 on Netflix.

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This is a unique and special house, but we’re worried that because of its location, right on the ocean in East Hampton, someone will tear it down. It was designed in 1956 for art collector Otto Spaeth, who was also a vice president of the Whitney Museum. The architect was Gordon Chadwick, an associate at distinguished designer George Nelson’s office.

The house is a modern interpretation of a Shingle Style house. The roofline is similar to the grand sweeps of the old Stanford White houses, it’s covered in shingles, but it’s also playful and modern. See the “eyebrow” bulges above? They both shade the bay windows, but also the ripples evoke the ocean waves. Mr. Spaeth had a special system of shelves constructed for the house to display his art collection, which at the time included Edward Hopper’s South Carolina Morning (given by Spaeth’s heirs to the Whitney). We’d love to have seen the place in Spaeth’s time.

After Spaeth’s death in 1966, the house was purchased by June Noble Smith Larkin Gibson. Her father Edward J. Noble founded both candy company Life Savers as well as the ABC television network. And yes, she had three husbands! Ms. Gibson died in June at the age of 98.

The reason we say we’d love to be able to have seen the place in Spaeth’s time is that presumably he filled the place with modern furniture, presumably plenty designed by George Nelson. Which would look spectacular. Unfortunately, Ms. Gibson’s taste seemingly ran to the 1980s Mario Buatta look, which simply doesn’t make the most of the house.

So: just over five acres by Two Mile Hollow Beach, 333 feet of oceanfront, and a landmark house with 5 bedrooms and 5 baths. Listed by Peter Turino and Chris Burnside at Brown Harris Stevens, the ask is an eyewatering $72 million. The property is well-shaped and wide, and the listing heartbreakingly notes: “Build-ability: gross floor area 12,209 square feet.” We hope the house will stay.

• Otto Spaeth House, East Hampton Village [BHS]

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The Hamptons was all abuzz yesterday about a Twitter thread. Apparently, the mother of a 20 year old college student home in the Hamptons for the summer found $100,000 in his room. The son finally said that “in early April he struck up a conversation with a rich older woman at a local sandwich and seafood shop about how he had tested negative.” The older lady “paid for her large order in all $100s and then asked him if he needed to make some money for the summer–she and her friends were looking for a young man to help out–who was negative for Covid.”

Yep. According to the kid, he made the money the old-fashioned way, if you know what we mean. The parents were mortified and are giving the money to the police and never want to hear about it again. (Er, sorry?)

So do you believe his story?

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We love a property with a good bit of history behind it, and this one, which includes a former working windmill, has plenty. It’s located in the lovely estate section of Westhampton Beach on Seafield Lane.

The house was built around 1900. By 1905, a couple called Charles and Laura Bausher lived there, splitting their time between Montclair, New Jersey, and Westhampton Beach. Bausher made his fortune as a dry goods seller in New York; his store took up almost a whole city block on Thomas Street.

Their son, Charles junior, eventually lived in the house. He owned the Dune Deck Hotel.

Today, the 4700 square foot house boasts 5 bedrooms and 5 1/2 baths set on 1.43 acre and everything is, of course, updated for the 21st century. The windmill currently houses a gym. There’s a heated 3-car garage, and the nicely landscaped grounds offer a large fountain, koi pond with lily pads, and mature specimen trees. And of course there’s a heated 20 x 40 gunite pool. Asking price for the property, repped by Laura Dalessandro and Aimee Martin at Saunders, is $4.25 million, which strikes us as realistic.

• Village Estate [Saunders]

 

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Have you recently been tortured by the idea that, even though you live in an old farmhouse with antique quilts and vintage hooked rugs, you have a pet Labrador, you keep chickens in an adorable henhouse, drive an elderly Bronco, collect antique silver, and wear only preppy clothes, that you’re just not old-money enough? That your beverages, in fact, just don’t share that upper-class American style, fresh and unstuffy, that characterizes Ralph Lauren? Well, stop your fretting, because Ralph’s Coffee is popping up in the Hamptons for summer!

Coffee devotee Ralph (who knew?) just opened a summer pop-up at the Ralph Lauren Southampton store. From now till Sunday, August 16, the coffee shop will offer its signature selection of hot and cold beverages, including Ralph’s Roast Coffee, Espresso & Teas, Espresso Tonic, Ralph’s Iced Tea, Lemonade & more. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 8AM to 6PM.

More of an East Hampton person? (We will note, Ralph, that you live in Montauk, just down the street from us, and you’re not popping up any coffee in Montauk. We’re not hurt though.) Pop up at the RL East Hampton store opens Thursday, August 20, and will be there through Sunday, Sept 6. The hours are the same as in Southampton: Wednesday through Sunday from 8AM to 6PM.

Ralph’s custom blends feature organically grown beans from Central and South America and Africa, which are roasted and packaged in the U.S. by La Colombe in Philadelphia.

Prices are quite reasonable, ranging from $3 for a bottle of water up to $5 for cappuccino. Give it a try and report back to us. (Also, are the Ralph’s coffee graphics too darling for words? Nice job, Mr. Lauren.)

 

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Address: 33 Linden Lane, Southampton

Price: $13,750,000

Close but no cigar. The most popular guess this week was $12,750,000, while all the other answers were tied. We find $13,750,000 actually fairly reasonable for this place: it offers a lot of charm and some nice features (as we said before, we particularly like the porte-cochere, the third story, and the pavilion with outdoor fireplace right on Lake Agawam). There’s plenty of space in the house for family and friends, a fab pool, and that all-important lake access.

 

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Every election year, presidential candidates hit the Hamptons for fundraising. Why not? The richest people in the United States summer here, so of course they go where the money is. This weekend, it’s Donald Trump’s turn.

First up is Joe Farrell’s famous Bridgehampton estate, Sandcastle. Farrell is of course a very well known real estate developer in the Hamptons. With 11.5 acres of land, there’s plenty of space to host a Friday afternoon reception for Trump. Tickets will run you $5,600 per couple for the general reception, $11,200 per couple for the VIP reception, and $35,000 per couple for a photo opportunity.

Prior to that is a lunch at Related boss and Miami Dolphins co-owner Stephen Ross’s place in North Sea, which he owns with jewelry designer wife Kara Ross. Tickets are steeper here: $100,000 for a photo opportunity and lunch, and $250,000 for a package that includes a private roundtable discussion with the president. This property is a lot smaller at 2.81 acres (more intimate); the Rosses built the house in 2000.

We’ve also heard gossip that a fundraiser will be held at the Sagaponack home of Equinox (plus SoulCycle, Blink Fitness, et al) Harvey Spevak. Spevak purchased the 2.8 acre property on Hedges Lane, which includes a lovely 1850 house, in 2010 for $6.75 million. (Sorry for the poor quality of the pix below. Blame it on the now-gone HREO.)

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This house is a masterclass in how to do modern right. From the butterfly roof referencing Andrew Geller’s playful midcentury designs, to the entry that reminds us of the Metropolitan Opera House (just let us have our flights of fancy), this house is simply stunning. It’s quite large at 11,000 square feet, but the massing is divided with different natural materials lightened with copious use of glass.

Designed by Barnes Coy Architects, the house, says Chris Coy, is “comprised of three separate pavilions . . . that express a diverse village of parts . . . but deeply integrated from within by passageways and staircases . . . offering opaque surfaces of teak, stucco, granite and zinc that alternate with transparent swaths of tempered glass.” Of course all that glass makes the absolute most of that gorgeous oceanfront location.

The central pavilion is like a “monolithic upside down teak pyramid;” here are the kitchen, a dining area, and great room. The eastern pavilion includes a den/media room as well as the master wing, which boasts his and her bathrooms and a pair of walk-in closets.

To the west are five bedroom suites (here you go, kids and guests), a rec room, pool bath and garage. Of course there’s a gym and spa bath, but one unexpected bit is the golf simulator room. Not into golf? Make it into a home theater. The house is completed with two staff suites and storage.

As for the exterior, Coy notes, “while the inland side of the property is quite formal, the ocean side is looser and non-linear . . . the eccentrically shaped deck and pool [72′ with submerged spa] dip south then angles back to the north . . . with an overflow trough merging seamlessly with the oceanfront grounds that were left as wild as possible.”

So how much is all this wonderfulness? The property, repped by Gary DePersia of Corcoran, is just $52 million. “Just”? Well, there is 2.55 acres of land and 230 feet of oceanfront. Plus a house that offers amazing bragging rights, so we don’t think it’s out of line. Wall Street zillionaires, take note.

• 115 Beach Lane [Corcoran]

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Price That House! is our price guessing game. We provide some details and pictures from a local listing, and you have a go at the price. Thursday, we reveal the answer. Remember, this is all for fun, so please: no wagering.

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What/Where: 7 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, 3 half-baths / Southampton Village

Square footage: 8266

Acreage: 1,02

The Deets: This house looks like an original colonial, but was built in 2011, so no worries about maintaining an old house. Especially nice features of the property are the porte-cochere, the third story, and best of all, a pavilion with outdoor fireplace right on Lake Agawam.

Now—how much are they asking for it?

 

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Real estate titan Dolly Lenz, former president of Douglas Elliman and sometime agent for Donald Trump, has listed her Southampton property. In the estate section, on tony Ox Pasture Road, the estate consists of an 8-bedroom, 7.5-bath main house, a guest house with 2 bedrooms, a pool house with bath and changing rooms (and of course a pool), and a tennis court. The finished lower level includes a yoga studio and rec room.

As for the price, $15.5 million? Realistic, seems to us. The kitchen is obviously not important to the Lenzes, so that would likely be redone, we’d change the McMansiony front arched windows, and a buyer would probably want to add a home theater to the lower level, but other than that, the place looks in fine fettle and close to ask. The couple paid $6.95 million in 2005.

What do you folks think? Let us know in the comments.

• Southampton Estate on Famed Ox Pasture Road [OE]

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