Real LI

This house in New Hyde Park is for sale.

Your life-sized doll will feel comfortable in this house, too!

The house hunting season went into full swing last month with some good news for sellers and real estate agents and not good news for buyers looking for bargains.

The median closing price for Long Island and Queens went up to $415,000 in April after months of decline, according to the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island. The median for March was $409,000.

In general, the higher median means more money for sellers and real estate agents' commissions and higher prices for buyers. Read Newsday's story today.

The East Hampton Star reports that one code enforcement officer is surprised that people from "Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens pay so much money and spend so much time battling traffic 'to share quarters in a basement with people they don’t know.'" Apparently, her town, Southampton, has a problem on its hands. So Southampton and neighboring East Hampton town are reading Internet and classified ads to find where the houses will be -- and then monitor them. "Southampton also tracks trouble spots," the paper reports. “There are properties with repeat problems." Southampton keeps "a list of the top 100" problem properties" that officers will start visiting when the season begins.

Sometimes it’s just good to pick up a broom and a rake and get to work. That is what a host of Long Island Realtors did recently at the Hagedorn Community Center in the Manhasset-Great Neck area. The group, all in navy blue T-shirts with a big "R" emblazoned on the pocket, did some spring cleaning and mulch moving for the community center.

The effort was part of Change the World – Start at Home, an HGTV community revitalization project with Rebuilding Together LI, the National Trust of Historic Preservation and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The center was built as a public school in 1929.

After the brooming and raking, the good-sized group took a rest and a picture on a center lawn.

When the owners purchased this 1926 Colonial in Great Neck Estates in 1993, the house was tiny, says Trudy Elliott of June Shapiro Fine Homes and Estates in Great Neck. Leaving the original structure, the house -- now a brick and stone Tudor -- was gutted and expanded to 5,149 square feet. And that doesn’t include the basement, where there’s a home theater with about a dozen large leather seats. And there's a wine cellar that accommodates 1,000 bottles -- with a 24-carat gold ceiling.

Other fun features include a ceramic floor with copper inserts in the entrance foyer, a hand-stenciled concrete driveway that looks like brick, surround sound, an indoor chorine-free pool with a whirlpool, a sauna and a steam shower. There are six bedrooms, six full baths, each with a Jacuzzi, and two half baths.

Resting on a square 111-by-110-foot parcel, the house is “built like a fortress,” says Elliott, who is co-listing the property for $4.3 million with Svelana Levitin.

This bank-owned ranch in Westbury is on the market for $236,900. Annual taxes are $7,311. The house was built in 1958. There are three bedrooms and one bathroom. There is a fireplace. The lot is 50 by 100 feet. Listing agent: Todd Yovino, Island Advantage Realty, Huntington, 631-351-6000.

This house in Baldwin is for sale.

Is this a playroom or a special smoking room?

Read all about the April report from the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island here.

This house in Valley Stream is for sale.

When was this photo taken?

Actress Kathleen Turner has once again lowered the price of her home on Bluff Road in Amagansett, listed with Rachel Thompson of Prudential Douglas Elliman.

In 2005, after splitting with her husband Jay Weiss, Turner put the home on the market for a reported $8 million, later taking it off the market and renovating it. Last year Turner again listed the six-bedroom home for $6.9 million. In January, REAL LI reported another price drop to $6.25 million.

The Prudential Elliman Web site now shows that Turner has lowered her price yet again to $5.9 million. Records show that the Oscar-nominated actress paid $488,500 for the home in 1990.

The 5,000-square-foot home was built in 1903 and overlooks a 25-acre preserve.

Dan's Papers recently reported that the house will be sold during the divorce proceedings.

Thompson could not be reached for comment.

The Hamptons meets pop culture in Paramount Pictures’ mega-hit, “Iron Man," starring Robert Downey Jr., who got married there, and Amagansett’s own Gwyneth Paltrow. During one scene, Paltrow’s character Pepper Potts rolls her eyes and tells Downey’s character Tony Stark that a painting he's about to buy is not from the artist’s “Springs” period as Stark thinks…it was painted in an area of East Hampton called Springs, where the artist had a studio.

This moviegoer's recollection of the dialogue is that Potts refers to a Willem DeKooning painting; a blogger at Dan’s Papers remembers it as a Jackson Pollock painting. Whether Pollock or DeKooning, both artists did have studios in Springs, and longtime connections to the Hamptons.

Incidentally, the 2,500-square-foot Springs former studio of DeKooning’s wife, Elaine, has been on the market since last year. The most recent listing price is $1.6 million, a reduction from the original $2 million asking price. The studio is listed with Josiane Fleming and Robin Kaplan of Prudential Douglas Elliman.

AP photo

The next best thing to living in the heart of wine country is having a vineyard to call your own: Whoever buys this 3,200-square-foot Victorian in Jamesport won't only be across from Martha Clara Vineyards but will be entitled to share a vineyard with their neighbor. Figure on about six rows consisting of about 25 vines of Chardonnay grapes.

The vines, which need cultivating and lots of nurturing, will provide the owner with the opportunity to create his or her own label, says Patricia Wilson of Colony Realty in Jamesport, who is handling the sale of the property.

The asking price for the newly constructed four-bedroom house, which sits on a one-acre parcel, is $725,000.

Looking for something to grace the walls of your North Fork home? For an estimated bid of $80,000 to $120,000, you might be able to snag “The Dock,” a circa-1927 oil painting by Irving Ramsey Wiles, created at “The Mooring,” his summer home and studio in Indian Neck, Peconic.

Wiles summered at the home from 1895 on, and many of his paintings took inspiration from the scenery there. This work depicts the artist’s daughter Gladys on the family dock overlooking Peconic Bay, with Shelter Island in the distance. The painting is part of Doyle New York’s American Art Auction on May 20.

News Corporation chief executive Rupert Murdoch may have a new neighbor to carpool to work with. The house that conservative talk show host and Murdoch employee Sean Hannity was trying to buy has officially closed, real estate sources says. The 16-room mansion on Centre Island closed Wednesday. Hannity paid $8.5 million.

The Hampton-style mansion was purchased from a trust set up after a transfer of the property from Deborah Dolan, ex-wife of Cablevision’s James Dolan.

The home was listed with Peggy McCormack of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty. Regina Rogers of Prudential Douglas Elliman represented Hannity in the deal. Neither agent would comment.

The sale of this home proves that despite a real estate slowdown, homes will sell if the price is right, and Centre Island is no exception. The Hannity house had originally been listed at $13.5 million in 2006, then earlier this year was reduced to $10.5 million. Patricia Altschul’s Centre Island manse went into contract last year soon after a price reduction from $18.5 million to $15.8 million. It closed in March 2008 for $12.5 million to Londoner Colin Buffin. Murdoch also recently dropped the asking price for his nearby mansion from $14.8 million to $12.8 million.

One holdout in the pricing game is Billy Joel, whose Centre Island estate, Middlesea, has been on the market since 2006. It was originally listed at $37.5 million in 2006, with a price drop to $32.5 million in early 2007, but Joel has not reduced his asking price in more than a year now and the home remains unsold.

This house in Franklin Square is for sale.

Catch that man!

If you aren’t prone to sticker shock when it comes to the cost of Hamptons summer rentals, this one could possibly generate a gasp: A renovated 8,200-square-foot 1910 house on a bay beach in Sag Harbor, according to a recent article in The New York Times, has rented for $395,000 for the season.

The seven-bedroom house is reported to have a heated pool, a putting green, a screening room, a gym, a billiards room, a wine-tasting room and a sauna, and a steam room. The outdoor kitchen is equipped with a refrigerator, a dishwasher, a grill and a fireplace.

Even though the high-end rental market seems to be on track, other renters bent on getting a good deal are reluctant to commit. Plus, there’s an increase in the number of Europeans renting on the East End this season because of the weak dollar.

The asking price of the French Normandy-style estate in Oyster Bay known as Northwood has been reduced to $18 million. The 26-acre property is surrounded by a 114 acres of preserve. (Last year, Nassau County spent $11 million to save 33.5 acres of the property.)

The estate had been 900 acres about 100 years ago, when it was owned by banker Mortimer Schiff. He built a 120-room Tudor home on the property. His son, John, later replaced the mansion with the manor house there today.

"It is the most gorgeous piece of property," says Barbara Candee, who is listing Northwood with Margaret Trautmann on behalf of the Locust Valley office of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty.

The current owners renovated the house two years ago. There are 10 bedrooms, 10 baths and two half bath, as well as a Tudor-style coach house, 12-stall stable, a tennis house, an indoor/outdoor har-tru courts, a pool and trails.

On Wednesday, George Ballantyne, senior vice president of Sotheby's International Realty, will address about 100 Daniel Gale brokers at Northwood. The topic will be "Building a Quality Culture." Earlier in the day he will speak to about 60 brokers at another of the agency's listings -- this one in Brookville for an asking price of $5.1 million.

A bank-owned cape in East Meadow is on the market for $303,900. Annual taxes are $7,000. The house was built in 1951. The lot is 77 by 95 feet. There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Listing agent: Lee Rose, Island Advantage Realty, 631-820-3429.

There are hints afloat that Trulia has a new survey that shows that 20 percent of men, ages 18 to 34, don’t know what a foreclosure is. The same report is showing that the number of online searches for foreclosed properties on Trulia has increased 214 percent in the first quarter of this year. The big number may be nothing more than window shopping; the survey also says that 70 percent of American adults think there are significant “negative aspects” to purchasing a foreclosure.

Katie Lee Joel tells the Herald-Dispatch in West Virginia, where she's from, that her new book "The Comfort Table," which is out Mother's Day, features photography taken at her and rocker-husband Billy Joel's new house in Sagaponack.

"We did the photo shoots at my house in New York City and the house out on Long Island," she tells the newspaper. "I wanted the balance of country and city girl, and I had my mom and grandma and great-aunt come up, and all three of them have recipes in the book. We had the best time, and I will always have those remembrances of having them up here doing the photo shoot. We had our hair and makeup done, and after that we all went out for dinner since everyone was gussied up."

Read more about the Joel house -- and see photos -- here.

Getty Images photo

This house in Elmont is for sale.

Someone's at the door!

This property in Rocky Point is for sale.

It needs a little work.

Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity closed Wednesday on a house in Centre Island, a real estate source tells Newsday. He paid $8.5 million for the 6.2-acre property, the source says. He bought the 16-room home from a trust named “2002 JLD Childrens,” which was set up after a transfer of the property from Deborah Dolan, ex-wife of Cablevision chief executive James L. Dolan. The house had been listed for $13.5 million. Read more about the property here.

This house in Baiting Hollow is for sale.

You can tell so much about a house from the lamp corner of a room.

The history of this 1921 carriage house in Upper Brookville is foggy, but a lot is known about its renovations. That’s because current owner, businessman and entrepreneur Scott Miller, did an extensive makeover. Some original features, such as the front door and cupola topped by a peacock weather vane, were retained.

The asking price is $2.995 million. Annual taxes are $57,800.

The 6,500-square-foot house rests on 2.24 acres and has a courtyard entrance with a fountain. Inside, there are 11 rooms with Brazilian cherry wood floors, coffered ceilings and two fireplaces, including one in the custom cherry paneled library. There are six bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms.

There also is a detached three-car garage with an apartment above it, says Rita Pecora of Piping Rock Associates in Locust Valley.

The house once belonged to the late businessman Oakleigh L. Thorne and his late wife, Dorothy Thorne, who were both board members of the New York Botanical Garden

This bank-owned cape in Massapequa is on the market for $479,900. Annual taxes are $6,000. The house was built in 1951. The property is 50 feet by 100 feet. There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms. There also is an attached one-car garage. Listing agent: Ed Browne, Island Advantage Realty, 631-820-3427.

This house in Deer Park is for sale.

How sexy...

The former Oyster Bay summer home of the late trend-setting Vogue photographer Horst P. Horst is on the market for $1.85 million. The one-story white house sits on five acres of what is left of Horst’s original 12 acres, purchased from the Tiffany estate for about $5,000 in the late 1940s. In a 1991 interview, Horst told The New York Times that he had sold an original Picasso painting to pay for the house.

Horst lived in the home until his death in 1999 at age 93. During his career, he photographed and partied with Salvador Dali, Noel Coward, Greta Garbo and Coco Chanel, all of whom visited him on Long Island. Hewas also responsible for many iconic advertising shots, some of which were taken in the garage at the home.

The house has four bedrooms, three baths and three fireplaces. Taxes are $18,052 per year.

David M. Haggerty and Angela Buzzerio of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty have the listing.

This bank-owned ranch in Huntington Station is for sale. The price is $229,900. Annual taxes are $3,656. The house was built in 1953. There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Listing agent: Ed Browne, Island Advantage Realty, 631-820-3427.

"Amityville Horror" fans, mark your calendars: The Amityville Film Festival is scheduled July 11 at dusk to celebrate the chilling flick's 30th anniversary. Just be prepared to travel to Seaside Heights, N.J., to catch it. Even though the movie is about the haunting of the South Shore Dutch Colonial where Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murdered his parents and four siblings in 1974, it was filmed in Toms River, N.J. The festival, which will also show the sequels, is free. For a full rundown on the murder, the book, the movie... scope out Seaside Heights News Magazine and Talky Blog!, www.popartpete, where neat pictures are also posted.

Newsday file photo / Stan Wolfson

This house in Smithtown is on the market.

You have to strain a little to see the grime.

The Shelter Island estate once owned by former Gov. Hugh Carey’s family topped the town sales record for the second time when the owner flipped it today for $12.4 million to a Swiss financier.

“I got a big smile on my face,” outgoing owner Chris Knight, a Queens-based real estate investor, said after the closing.

He set a local record early last year by paying $10 million for the 1892 Victorian mansion in disrepair and its 7.8 acres on the waterfront. Knight then quickly put it up on the market again for $33 million, a price that amazed locals but ultimately proved to be too high because Knight lowered it late last year to $22.4 million, after the subprime collapse shook an already-shaky real estate industry.

The Swiss businessman plans to use the house, known as Shorewood Manor, as his summer home and wants to restore the property to its former glory, according to his East Hampton-based attorney, Bill Fleming.

“We’re checking on its provenance,” Fleming said. “We have a historic consultant who’s going to research it.”

Move over, the Brits are coming to Centre Island.

Last year when Patricia Altschul’s estate Southerly went into contract, listing agent Barbara Candee of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty proclaimed the new owner to be a denizen of the United Kingdom and a “lover of boats.”

Although Candee would not comment further, REAL LI has confirmed the buyer is Londoner Colin Buffin and his wife Susan. Buffin is chief executive of Candover, one of Britain's largest private equity firms and a competitive yachtsman who was surely lured by the property’s deep water dock.

The deal closed March 20. The latest asking price had been $15.8 million. The home sold for $12.5 million. The 10-acre estate had been on the market since 2006.

Altschul was travelling and could not be reached for comment. She is the wife of the late banker and philanthropist Arthur Altschul. His daughter is CBS contributing correspondent Serena Altschul.

Now that Southerly has sold, maybe there is hope for neighbor and Newsday-wannabe-owner Rupert Murdoch, who is listing his nearby estate for sale at $12.8 million. Billy Joel is also still trying to sell Middlesea on the island for $32.5 million.

If you haven’t heard, Montauk's oceanfront getaway — the Panoramic View Hotel & Residence — is in its final season. The resort is in the process of being converted into luxury villas by Distinctive Ventures of Great Neck.

The new complex -- Panoramic Luxury Villas -- will have about 60 or so waterview villas ranging in size from 2,200 square feet to 4,300 square feet, with prices starting at $2.825 million. Amenities include 24/7 concierge service, an on-site caretaker, a fitness center, a beach attendant, an inground pool and more. These "smart" units will notify the staff if something is amiss -- say, for instance, heat isn't working properly.

And if an owner requires a helicopter or needs to have his or her bills paid while away, that can be arranged too, says Valerie Stone of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Brookville, who is handling sales with Barbara Brundige.

Currently the villas are being treated as "condops," meaning they are structured like a cooperative but have the rules and regulations of a condominium. However, in October they will begin the process to convert to condominiums. Rentals will also be available.

Interested in a seasonal rental this summer? A two-bedroom unit can be fetched for $100,000, while larger units are going for $145,000 and $165,000, Stone said.

It's almost impossible to tell whether this proposal from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will fly or not, but for the moment it sounds like good news to those struggling with mortgages.

The FDIC announced today it is proposing that Congress authorize the Treasury Department to make loans to borrowers with unaffordable mortgages to pay down up to 20 percent of their principal.

The repayment and financing costs for these Home Ownership Preservation loans would be borne by mortgage investors and borrowers.

The agency that insures deposits up to $100,000 in U.S. banks and thrift institutions said the plan would be administratively simple, and will avoid unnecessary foreclosures to help stabilize mortgage and housing prices. In addition there is no cost to the government, it said.

Click here for eligibility and other details.

This bank-owned Colonial in Ridge is on the market for $285,000. Taxes are $5,000 a year. The 1950 house is on a 100-by-161-foot parcel. There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Listing agent: Kevin McArdle, Island Advantage Realty, 631-820-3420.