A
USA
PROPERTY in Palm Beach affords the ability to escape the harsh winters of New York, but the two must-have points of the most-
coveted property triangle on the eastern seaboard of the USA are Manhattan and the Hamptons. The latter' s incarnation as a playground for the rich and famous has morphed dramatically over the decades from open potato fields into upper-scale seashore hideaways. More than half of the property is made up of second homes and residents of Nassau County pay the second- highest property tax in the USA. The great and the good have long escaped
steamy New York City Augusts to cluster in Suffolk County' s main town of East Hamp- ton and the surrounding hamlets of Mon- tauk, Amagansett, Wainscott and Springs. With the Atlantic, Block Island Sound, and Gardiners, Napeague and Fort Pond Bays surrounding it on three sides, this seaside retreat from the Big Apple has attracted the upper crust of American' s political class from Theodore Roosevelt, quarantined in Montauk after returning from the Spanish- American War, to Bill and Hillary Clinton, who summer in a smart Bridgehampton seaside house with a windmill. An artistic edge is lent by a colony that sprang up in the 1940s, including Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol, then attracted othersÐ the Rolling Stones, Liza Minelli, Elizabeth Taylor and John LennonÐ from the entertainment industry. These days, you' re more likely to find
captains of industry and their society wives in the Hamptons, points out Kirk Henckels of Savills' associate Stribling Private Brokerage. ` It' s basically an extension of socially competitive Manhattan, and size matters. The ultimate prize is a $30 million
± $60 million old, waterfront house with several acres.' Rather than only possessing
Making waves in the Hamptons
Anybody who's anybody stateside covets ownership of the American Golden Triangle: high-end homes in Manhattan, the Hamptons and Palm Beach, says Cheryl Markosky
FOR SALE $27.5m
New York The former home of Nelson Rockefeller has a 47ft-long
living room with two fireplaces, two bedrooms, an attended lobby and is pet friendly. Two bedrooms were removed to create large entertaining rooms, but could be restored in order for the apartment to have four bedrooms Stribling Private Brokerage (020± 7016 3740;
www.savills.co.uk)
FOR SALE $3.99m
Hamptons This Sag Harbor house has four acres with a main three-bedroom house, four-room pool house, exer- cise barn/office, heated pool, tennis court and pond views Corcoran Group, Bridgehampton (00 1 516 910 2139;
www.corcoran. com)
70 Country Life International, Spring 2011
` curb appeal' , any serious property must have ` aerial appeal'. One property insider insists: ` Your estate needs to look fantastic from above, as the first view most buyers get is from a private jet or helicopter.' Purchases are driven by a house' s archi-
tecture, provenance and proximity to water, according to Mr Henckels. ` Security isn' t as big an issue as in Beverly Hills, but buyers like to keep things quiet.' The irony is they can buy in a corporate name, ` but, at some point, everyone sees you going to the grocery store.' He adds that the Hamp- tons are only a 90-minute drive from New York City, but warns this can become five hours in high summer. Savvy weekend com- muters board a Hampton Jitney coach or the Long Island Rail Road, instead of banging their heads with frustration on a log- jammed Long Island Expressway. Although the East Hamptons' market was
harder hit than Manhattan following the Lehman Brothers' crash, buyers' interest has perked up now there are more homes on the market and confidence is returning. Prices are still below 2009 levels, and high- end homesÐ those costing more than $10 millionÐ have been particularly affected. The exception is East Hampton, with a 34% rise in average prices, says a study from the Corcoran Group. The real problem is the
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