Sagaponack Mansion Sells For $24 Million

A home in Sagaponack with a $24-million-dollar price tag was sold between April 29 and May 6, according to deed reports. It is at the top of the list for 2013 home sales in the Hamptons, according to The Real Estate Report, Inc.

The home, located at 39 Fairfield Pond Lane, is nestled on 3.6 acres of waterfront property. It is a two-story, 5,000-square-foot, single-family dwelling, with eight bedrooms, seven baths, one fireplace, a pool and a tennis court. Famed architect Philip Johnson originally designed the house as a simple beach cottage for Eugene and Margaret Farney in 1945.

In 2010 the modern beach cottage and property was assessed at $18,073,000. It underwent $886,200 in improvements in July 2010 and was reassessed in July 2012 at $18,959,200. The last assessment recorded, on May 1, 2013, was for $17,151,900.

According to “Long Island Modernism: 1930-1980” author Caroline Zaleski, the Farneys wanted Mr. Johnson to build them a simple little cottage, appreciative of the indigenous landscape. Originally, the Farney house was in the dunes, looking out at the ocean, while the back faced potato farms.

The residence was to be strictly a summer home. There was no heating, only a wood-burning stove. It was the end of World War II and materials were scarce, so traditional wood frame American construction was used.

But there were special additions to the original home, according to Ms. Zaleski.

“It was one of the very few projects that Johnson incorporated furniture design into the house,” she reported. “It was a total work of art where the building and furniture were a part of the same piece.”

The landscape surrounding the house was once potato farms and empty beaches, but now it is surrounded by mega-mansions. Nearly 70 years later, the home has had multiple owners and multiple additions. Originally, it was built on posts, but since has had a foundation put in to accommodate renovations. As a result, the structure lost its sense of lightness, Ms. Zaleski continued.

“Today it’s a sprawling-out modern, a large house with numerous volumes,” Ms. Zaleski said of former Farney house. “It’s a shadow of its former self.”

As for the most recent sale, there has been speculation as to the identities of the buyer and seller, but that information remains unconfirmed. According to the deeds filed and reported by The Real Estate Report Inc., the seller was Fairfield Pond Partners, and the buyer was 39 Fairfield Pond Lane. According to local insiders, regardless of who owns the home now it will most likely be demolished and rebuilt.