Photographer Peter Beard and wife, Nejma, have gone private in their efforts to sell their five-acre Montauk estate, which has been on the market for nearly three years.
The couple have shared the blufftop property for two decades, listing it for sale in 2005 for $32 million with Linda Stein of Prudential Douglas Elliman. Stein was the “agent to the stars” who was murdered in her Manhattan apartment in October 2007. At the time of Stein’s untimely death, the Beards’ property was listed at $26 million. John Golden of Prudential co-listed with Stein.
Nejma Beard tells REAL LI that the estate was taken off the public market on Dec. 1, 2007, but that is indeed still for sale. “There is no hurry,” Beard says. “I am selling through personal contacts only now, and we have quite a lot of interest. However, I only want someone who is not a developer, who will respect the environment and will not despoil it as so many buying in Montauk have done.”
The property has a carriage house and several cabins, and is the last oceanfront parcel before the Montauk Lighthouse. Property records still bear the name of model Cheryl Tiegs, to whom Beard was once married. The Beards' neighbors include musician Paul Simon and J.Crew chief executive Millard Drexler.
Beard declined to provide details on the current asking price. Of her efforts to find the right buyer, she says, "It is a special and magical place ... One can only ever be a guardian to land, one has to respect it and pass it on to like minds. It is a true sanctuary and needs the right people."