Top 10 Hamptons Home Sales Of The First Half Of 2020

Hamptons real estate has reached new heights in 2020, with a record-shattering sale in the first quarter and continued eight-figure sales after the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.

In all of 2019, only the top two sales were for more than $30 million, while just half-way through 2020, the top six sales exceed that price. The variety of residences in the top 10 ranges from newly built masterpieces to teardowns, as buyers at the very top of the market demonstrate again that location, location, location can’t be beat.

The top 10 ranking, courtesy of The Real Estate Report Inc., reflects the biggest sales of individual parcels in the first half of 2020.

Calvin Klein quietly sold his Southampton Village oceanfront estate in March for $84 million, an amount that appears to be the highest paid for a single property on the South Fork — ever. The final sales price is also more than double the No. 2 sale of 2020 thus far.

The property was not publicly listed for sale, and no one has come forward to take credit for an off-market listing. The Wall Street Journal reported in February, when the deal was still in contract, that billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin was the buyer.

The property has a controversial history in the village, but Mr. Klein made many people happy when he razed the previous residence that stood there, the castle-like mansion once known as “Dragon’s Head,” and built the current modern estate.

The original house was built for horticulturist Henry Francis du Pont in the 1920s, and known then as Chestertown. It was built using imported pieces of 18th century American homes from the colonial town of that name in Maryland.

Later owners included Warhol superstar “Baby” Jane Holzer and coal industrialist John Samuels III.

The controversy came later. The house was modified and expanded in the style of a Norman chateau during the 1980s by then-owner Barry Trupin, in a way that flew in the face of zoning codes. He added 20,000 square feet to the mansion before the village stopped him in 1984. The fight cost $1 million in legal fees for the village. Newsday, at the time, called the renamed Dragon’s Head “the height of hideosity” and critics often referred to it as “Disneyland on LSD.”

Mr. Trupin sold Dragon’s Head in 1992 to WorldCom director Francesco Galesi, who scaled back some of the mansion’s most extreme features, removed many turrets and renamed it “Elysium.”

Mr. Klein purchased 650 Meadow Lane in 2003 for $28.9 million and had Elysium demolished in 2009 after receiving approval to build the home that stands there now. The sleek, white, modern residence with 13,000 square feet of floor area above ground consists of three buildings attached underground: a main building, a studio wing and a guest wing.

Though this Southampton Village estate is only the No. 2 sale of the first half of 2020, the price surpasses the No. 1 most expensive sale in the Hamptons for each of the past three years.

The property is 3.4 acres with 535 feet of oceanfront, according to the listing, and the residence has unobstructed views of both the Atlantic and Shinnecock Bay. Ben Krupinski Builder completed the house in 2003 and returned over the years for continued maintenance and renovations.

Hedges and mature trees offer privacy as visitors enter through the gate and up the full-circle driveway. The white-stained shingled residence has expansive decks that are level with a large heated gunite pool with spa, and there are additional terraces and patios for outdoor entertaining or just peaceful, personal enjoyment of ocean breezes and the sun.

The interior design is by West Village-based Steven Gambrel, who has done many ultra-high-end homes on the South Fork and internationally.

Gathering spaces that open to the ocean-facing deck include a great room, a formal dining room, and a family room, each with a fireplace. The chef’s kitchen with dark textured stone counters boasts Viking, Sub-Zero, and Thermador appliances.

There are three levels, all served by a central elevator. The upstairs landing has a deck and service bar and leads to the master suite with a fireplace, a private deck, walk-in closets and a marble bathroom. The lower level has a media/recreation room, a gym, three full bathrooms, a wine cellar, a laundry area with a double washer and dryer, a wet bar that services a covered terrace, and access to the connected two-car garage.

The house is 5,435 square feet above grade — about 9,000 square feet including the lower level — and, in all, has six bedrooms and 9.5 bathrooms.

The estate also offers a private dock and mooring.

Harald Grant of Sotheby’s International Realty represented both sides of the transaction.

The sellers are David Matlin, a distressed assets investor, and his wife, Lisa Matlin. And to be clear, it’s the assets that are distressed, not Mr. Matlin. He’s a co-founder of MatlinPatterson, a global alternative asset manager headquartered in New York with offices in London and Hong Kong. Ms. Matlin opened Upper East Side clothing and gift boutique Blue Tree in 2005 with actress Phoebe Cates.

The buyer is Sandstone Trust.

“Awaken to the sights and sounds of ocean waves rhythmically beating against your secluded, white sand beach. Repose nightly to spectacular sunsets over the Atlantic — a most picturesque and inspiring view,” the original listing swooned. “The opportunity to own the prestigious piece of East Hampton Village real estate that is 32 Windmill Lane awaits the discerning buyer.”

Located at the end of a private road off Further Lane, 32 Windmill Lane was marketed with 26 Windmill Lane as a 6.7-acre compound. The latter address sold for $8 million. The parcel at 32 Windmill Lane is the larger of the two: 5.4 acres with a private path to 300 feet of ocean beach.

The property came with a 5,500-square-foot residence, but the Sotheby’s International Realty listing notes that zoning allows for a 12,477-square-foot residence with additional square footage in a full finished lower level. It also has rights in tact for an oceanfront swimming pool and a north-south tennis court.

The late owner was corporate titan James Evans, who was the president of Union Pacific and at various times sat on the boards of directors of AT&T, Bristol-Meyers, Citicorp, MetLife and General Motors. He died in 2015. The buyer’s identity was shielded by a limited liability company.

The listing had been the co-exclusive of Douglas Elliman brokers Paul Brennan and Martha Gundersen, and Valerie Smith and Frank Newbold of Sotheby’s. The buyer was brought to the deal by Gary DePersia of Corcoran.

This East Hampton Village mansion sold for nearly half off the original asking price from back in 2017.

According to PropertyShark, the oceanfront property at 27 Drew Lane last changed hands in 2005, for $19.2 million.

CookFox Architects, a Manhattan-based studio, was tasked with designing a new mansion on the 1.5-acre lot. The result is a 13,600-square-foot residence with a shingle-style main house, a concrete caretaker’s cottage, a glass and steel yoga pavilion, and a linear lap pool.

“Pieces from the clients’ art collection complete the integration of art, architecture, and the natural dune landscape,” states the CookFox description of the project. “Where the conceptual axis of the main house meets the perpendicular axis of the pool and yoga pavilion, an early 20th century bronze sits in repose above a tranquil reflecting pool.”

According to the architecture studio, though the three buildings are in different styles, “Cedar detailing ties these elements together with varied forms and patterns.”

The yoga pavilion is inspired by floating beach lanterns and dune fences.

The landscape design was created in a collaboration between landscape artist Paula Hayes and landscape designer Ed Hollander, and the interiors were by Orlando Diaz.

There is no evidence online of the property being on the market since 2018, indicating this may have been an off-market sale.

The deal closed in March, and both the buyer and seller used limited liability companies that hid their names.

Located in the Murray compound, this chateau-style residence elevated on 300 steel pilings sits on 3.6 acres with more than 200 feet of oceanfront. The 9,200-square-foot house has French country imported stone archways throughout, four imported Old World hearths, and custom imported wood from a French chateau seen in the exposed wooden beams and hardwood floors.

There are four bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms, with an elevator serving three levels, so it’s effortless to visit the wine cellar. Among the living spaces are a formal dining room, with a fireplace, that leads to the open-concept kitchen and living room. A grand staircase leads up to the master suite with a foyer, a sitting room with a fireplace, an oceanfront balcony and two marble bathrooms.

A two-car garage is attached, and a 50-foot-by-50-foot heated pool is on the ocean side.

This chateau belonged to the late John F. Sullivan, who purchased the land in 1986 and, in the 1990s, set about developing a family compound. The second half of the compound is farther down this list.

This newly built estate that sold in April fronts Phillips Pond. On 3.2 acres, the residence is 13,000 square feet with eight bedrooms, 10 full bathrooms and three half-baths, by custom builder Lifton Green in partnership with JBialsky Premiere Design + Development.

The shingled main house with walls of glass has double-height living spaces, four fireplaces, Waterworks fixtures and tiles, multiple terraces and a rooftop deck with views of the ocean, Phillips Pond, Sayre Pond and Jule Pond. There’s a living room, a den, a family room, a formal dining room, a chef’s kitchen, a media room and a wine room.

Raymond Renault of Lifton Green designed the residence with interior design by David Scott Interiors and grounds by LaGuardia Design Group.

A pool house complements the 20-foot-by-80-foot heated infinity pool with an 8-foot-by-8-foot spa. The property also includes a 60-foot-by-120-foot north-south tennis court and a four-car heated garage.

Bespoke represented the property. The buyer’s name was not revealed.

This is the second piece of the late Mr. Sullivan’s family compound on Murray Place. According to Bespoke, it was sold in the same March transaction as 317 Murray Place. At $57.5 million combined, that makes it the second-biggest deal of the year to date.

The 1.84-acre property hosts a five-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom 4,600-square foot-residence.

This oceanfront property had been the site of a 2,600-square-foot beach house built in 1941. It last sold in 2016 for $9.95 million, according to Zillow. A 2018 application with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation called for demolishing the existing dwelling, patio, driveway, retaining wall and septic system, in order to build a new residence with new decking, a new sanitary system, a new driveway and a new pool. An existing 1,306-square-foot cottage was to stay in place.

There was no listing to be found for this apparent off-market sale. The seller was Otis CMS Real Estate Holdings LLC, and the buyer was 189 Marine LLC.

This 2.2-acre oceanfront property has a pool, a basketball court and a 1,673-square-foot residence. The shingled home has multiple levels of decking that provide for ample outdoor living space. It has just five bedrooms and three bathrooms, but the listing notes that the land offers the opportunity to “build your own oceanfront dream house.”

The deal closed on June 19, and the seller was the estate of Reuben Gutoff, who died on April 6 at age 93 from complications due to COVID-19. Mr. Gutoff was a senior vice president of strategic planning for General Electric, before founding an independent management consulting firm, Strategy Associates, according to an obituary from Chabad.org.

Mr. Gutoff had the house built in 1983 and in 1995 added decks, according to town property records. The house also has a den, library, loft and office.

The buyer was the Kapri Realty Trust. The listing agent was Susan Breitenbach of Corcoran.

This residence by noted architecture, landscape architecture and interior design firm Sawyer | Berson is on a single acre a block from the ocean. The white shingle-clad traditional home is 6,800 square feet with seven bedrooms, seven full bathrooms and one partial bath.

The gated property with mature privet for privacy has landscape views from every window of the house, and a variety of garden zones divided by boxwood hedges and connected by crushed oyster shell pathways, such as the seasonal oval tulip garden and a dining allee flanked by rows of Linden trees with a 36-foot teak table.

The formal entrance courtyard is anchored by boxwoods and finished with crushed oyster shells.

The house has tall ceilings, wide-plank white oak floors and expansive windows to allow light to flood the interiors. The family room, which the listing notes is named the “snug room,” has walls and a ceiling clad in textured grasscloth, “exuding both warmth and understated elegance.” Among the home’s luxury finishes are lime-washed walls and Moroccan Tadelakt plaster. The large eat-in kitchen has a glossy over-sized island and a wall of French doors that open to the 67-foot gunite pool with cast limestone coping and terrace. An outdoor living room with a fireplace overlooks the pool.

Eve Combemale had the listing for Sotheby’s International Realty. The buyer was Magna Carta Trust I.