Real LI

The Hamptons took center stage in Elle Décor’s June issue, which is all about summer chic.

Rita Noroña Schrager, a former New York City Ballet dancer, was inspired by the famed all-white Miami-based Delano Hotel (which her ex-husband Ian Schrager developed) to decorate almost her entire Southampton home. Her stately four-bedroom Colonial mixes a snowy palette with touches of Caribbean and Cuban influences, such as in her study, where real tobacco leaves are lacquered to the wall.

Veronica Swanson Beard, daughter of W. Clarke Swanson Jr., owner of Napa Valley winery Swanson Vineyards, says she and her husband, Jamie, would love to pack up their bayside Southampton home and ship it to Florida for the winter. The house would surely fit in with an interior inspired by Palm Beach, with coral-pink walls, tropical prints and groovy vintage furnishings.

After owning an eight-bedroom Southampton Victorian from the 1890s for more than a decade, Mark Magowan, co-owner and president of Vendome Press, and his wife, Nina, decided it was time to downsize. Four years ago they found a much smaller 1960s ranch nearby being remodeled into a 2,800-square-foot Federal-style house. The couple hired decorator Katie Ridder, known for mixing design elements and adding Middle Eastern touches, for a new look. Mounted on the wall in the dining room is a pair of pagoda-top cabinets, which were made in the 1960s, possibly for Jacqueline Kennedy.

— TIERNEY BRICKER

It’s not just the street name that gives this six-bedroom home its come-hither look. The house was designed by renowned architect Francis Fleetwood; it has 6 ½ baths, four fireplaces, and a 45-foot heated pool on 1.9 acres of prime East Hampton land.

The Hither Lane mansion is listed with Frank Newbold of Sotheby’s International Realty for $17.5 million. Public records show that the estate belongs to Wall Street banker Alan Mnuchin and his wife, Kimberly. Mnuchin is founder of the advisory firm AGM Partners. His brother Steven is chief executive officer of IndyMac Bank.

- LAURA MANN

Last summer, former Lehman Brothers president and chief operating officer Joseph Gregory listed his Bridgehampton home for $32.5 million. The price of the eight- bedroom, 8 ½-bath mansion has now been lowered to $27.9 million.

The listing agent is Michael DeSario of The Corcoran Group. Last year DeSario told REAL LI that the owners of the home were selling because they had not been able to spend as much time there as they had anticipated.

Public records indicate that Gregory, who is a Lloyd Harbor resident, purchased the home under a corporate name in 2007 for $19 million. DeSario said his clients had added at least $2 million in upgrades to the home before listing it. The 8,000-square-foot mansion sits on 2.5 acres, with 200 feet of beachfront. Amenities include a 50-foot pool with a spa and two master suites and six ensuite bedrooms.

Meanwhile, the price remains the same at Jack L. Rivkin’s Amagansett estate, which was listed earlier this year at $31 million. Rivkin retired last summer as executive vice president, chief investment officer and head of private asset management at Neuberger Berman, a Lehman Brothers company. Rivkin’s home is listed with Kathy Konzet of the East Hampton office of Sotheby's International Realty.

- LAURA MANN

Southampton's Westerly has a new agent -- and a new asking price. Now listed with Tim Davis of The Corcoran Group, the 14.5-acre estate is on the market for $45 million.

The property has been listed with Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate for $59 million.

The 25-room brick Georgian Revival country was built in 1929. There is a separate carriage house, a pool pavilion, a pool and a tennis court.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to own this gracious historic estate with subdivision potential,” says Davis, senior managing partner.

The late attorney Howard Gittis was the most recent owner. Gittis hosted many fundraisers and benefits at the house, including a $1,150-per-person party for Sen. John McCain in 2007.

In 1955, the estate hosted a "Night in Baghdad" event, complete with camels, and in 1966 there was an Indian-themed party with a baby elephant.

- VALERIE KELLOGG

Despite the economy, there are still folks who can afford to spend in the high six figures on a Hamptons rental. A 6.64-acre beachfront property in Sagaponack recently rented for the full asking price of $900,000 for Memorial Day to Labor Day, says listing agent Beate Moore of Sotheby’s International Realty. That home is owned by Joanne Corzine, ex-wife of New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, who signed the property over to her in 2002 as part of their divorce settlement.

If you have about three quarters of a million dollars to spend, there is still time to score a high-end home, but the field is getting narrower. Jane Gill of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate says that while the market has been steady this year, in the last week or so, “all of a sudden it’s gotten fierce.” Gill says that there are probably “two good houses” in every price range left and that bidding wars have broken out over choice properties. Prices are generally lower than last year, she says, but clients can be more demanding; the client who “brings a check for the full asking price” will secure the best rental.

Gill is currently listing a six-bedroom, 7 ½-bath mansion on 15 acres on coveted Further Lane in East Hampton. The price for this summer rental is $750,000 for Memorial Day to Labor Day. Records show the home belongs to Taya Thurman, half-sister of actress Uma Thurman. British musician Sting is reportedly a former tenant.

Harald Grant of Sotheby’s International Realty is representing a Southampton beachfront home, shown here, designed by famed architect Norman Jaffe. The $750,000 summer rental has seven bedrooms and 6 ½ baths on 2.3 acres, accessible through private gates. The property has an oceanside Gunite pool and spa, Zen garden and a tennis courts. The home was completely renovated in 2007.

Also in Southampton, Noel Love of Brown Harris Stevens is representing a six-bedroom, six-bath, 4.9-acre estate with views of Heady Creek. The Memorial Day to Labor Day rental also has an asking price of $750,000. Love says that the home rents every year, and there’s been a lot of interest in the property. He says he expects that it will be booked before the July 4 weekend.

Over in Sagaponack, the town where Billy Joel owns two homes, John Healey of Town and Country Real Estate has a listing for another $750,000 summer rental: a seven-bedroom mansion that sits on 2 acres with a gym, media room, billiard room, sauna, steam, and spa. There’s even a pool with a waterfall.

— LAURA MANN

An oceanfront home in Sagaponack belonging to the ex-wife of New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine recently rented for $900,000, real estate sources say.

Susan Breitenbach of The Corcoran Group brought the renter, says a spokeswoman for the agent. She declined to identify the customer's identity, but did say that it might be a record-setting price for a seasonal rental in the Hamptons. Beate Moore of Sotheby's International Realty, the listing agent for the property, agrees. "It is a big number," she says.

The lease is for Memorial Day to October.

The 6,200-square-foot, six-bedroom, 5.5-bath home is on a gated property. The 6.64-acre estate includes a heated gunite pool, a Har-tru tennis court and more than 500 feet of ocean frontage along Gibson Beach.

The house was signed over to Joanne Corzine in 2002 as part of her divorce settlement from Gov. Corzine.

- VALERIE KELLOGG

The former head of a Lehman Brothers company has put his oceanfront estate in Amagansett on the market for $31 million.

According to public records, the property is owned by Jack L. Rivkin, who retired last summer as executive vice president, chief investment officer and head of private asset management at Neuberger Berman. A spokesman for the company says he remains active on Neuberger's mutual fund boards. In January, Rivkin joined Pasadena, Calif.-based business incubator Idealab, where he is director, according to the company's Web site.

Property records show that Rivkin owns the gated 1.86-acre property off Further Lane with his wife, Jane. The Rivkins are known for their charitable work.

The 7,000-square-foot house, built in 1990, has six bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms. There is a separate guest wing, three fireplaces, a gym and a private deeded path to the beach.

The house has panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean, as well as a 365-year-old renovated and expanded barn brought from England, a heated pool and a pool house, and almost as dramatic, a bowling alley.

Annual taxes are about $50,000.

The Rivkins are listing the property with Kathy Konzet of the East Hampton office of Sotheby's International Realty. Konzet declined to discuss the listing, as did Jane Rivkin, who was reached by phone.

Another former Lehman executive also is trying to sell in the Hamptons: In the summer, Joseph Gregory, ex-president and chief operating officer of Lehman Brothers, listed his eight-bedroom, 8 ½-bath oceanfront home in Bridgehampton for $32.5 million.

- VALERIE KELLOGG

An oceanfront home in Sagaponack belonging to the ex-wife of New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine is on the Hamptons summer rental market for $900,000.

The rental runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

The 6,200-square-foot, six-bedroom, 5.5-bath home is on a gated property. The 6.64-acre spread includes a heated gunite pool, a Har-tru tennis court and more than 500 feet of ocean frontage along Gibson Beach.

A representative for Joanne Corzine confirmed that it's her house. It was signed over in 2002 as part of the couple's divorce settlement. An earlier posting here incorrectly said the house belonged to the governor.

Public records show that Randolph Lerner, owner of the Cleveland Browns NFL football team, just sold a 2.5 acre property on Further Lane in Amagansett for $7.895 million. The land comes with deeded ocean access by private path across a Nature Conservancy preserve. Zoning would permit the building of a 10,000-square-foot home.

The land had been listed with Frank Newbold of Sotheby’s International Realty. Mala Sander of The Corcoran Group, who brought the buyer, says that it is “an absolutely beautiful piece of property.” Lerner, who also owns a 15-acre estate on Town Lane, next to Alec Baldwin’s home, purchased the Further Lane tract in 2007 for $7 million.

Lerner and his wife, Lara, founded the Amagansett Applied Arts School of Visual Arts. Forbes Magazine estimated Lerner’s wealth at $1.3 billion. His father, Al Lerner, created the MBNA credit card company, which the family sold to Bank of America in 2002.

What a difference a year makes. When last we mentioned Lisa Kerkorian’s 10,000-square-foot barn-style home in Bridgehampton, the asking price was $12.7 million. That was just over a year ago. Today the home is still on the market, now at $7.995 million. The listing agent is Susan Breitenbach of The Corcoran Group.

The 2-acre estate has been on and off the market over the past few years. It had previously been listed with Sotheby’s International Realty for $16.3 million.

The six-bedroom, 7-½-bath home is a mix of old and new; just off the media room is a barn constructed of 200-year-old beams. The home is next to the horse farm owned by Calvin Klein’s former wife, Kelly Klein.

Kerkorian, once a professional tennis player, is the ex-wife of Kirk Kerkorian, who is worth $16 billion, according to Forbes Magazine.

Designer Adrienne Vittadini, whose 1.9-acre Water Mill estate went on the market last year for $7.6 million, has trimmed the asking price for the Cobb Road estate to $6.495 million.

The home has five bedrooms, five baths, a media room and a heated gunite pool and a pool house surrounded by limestone patios. The listing agent is Deborah Srb of Sotheby’s International Realty.

Vittadini and her husband, Gianluigi, are based in Manhattan and also own a condo at the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota. The couple have purchased and renovated homes in the Hamptons, Florida and Europe.

The Wall Street Journal reports today that author Truman Capote’s former Sagaponack home is being listed for $14.6 million with Sotheby’s International Realty. The listing, which went online within the past two days, has since been pulled from Sotheby’s Web site. For a peek at the cached version of the listing, check out the Big Time Listings real estate blog.

Capote’s home is currently owned by painter Ross Bleckner, who reportedly purchased the 4-acre property in 1993 for $800,000. The property includes a 2,000-square-foot main house, a two-bedroom guesthouse and an artist’s studio. Capote is said to have lived in the saltbox house until his death in 1984.

The home was profiled in August in Hampton Style magazine.

Interior designer Lorraine Kirke has lowered the price of her East Hampton mansion to $11.5 million, according to the Sotheby’s International Realty Web site. The home has been on the market with Sotheby’s since early this year, and had been priced at $12.95 million. It had been listed last year with Prudential Douglas Elliman for $14.5 million.

The 7,000-square-foot, 11-bedroom home sits on 1.14 acres, has three fireplaces, a heated pool and a guest cottage.

Kirke owns the West Village Boutique Geminola. Her clients have included celebrities like Salma Hayek, Nicole Kidman and Sarah Jesisca Parker.

She is married to Simon Kirke, drummer for the rock band Bad Company.

According to an article in the August issue of Vanity Fair, Southampton residents have been occupying themselves with the “parlor game for the summer” which involves trying to figure out just who really bought the former Marty Richards mansion at 104 Gin Lane.

The home sold for $60 million in March to South Lane Properties LLC. At the time, Tiger Woods was reported to be the buyer, but he has denied his involvement in the sale, as has real estate agent Beate Moore, who handled the deal through Sotheby’s International Realty.

Now Southampton developer Kim Pape weighs in, telling the magazine, “I’ve heard it’s Tiger Woods after all.”

Pape’s source? “The seller told someone who told me.”

Chalk up another one for Sotheby’s International Realty’s super-agent Beate Moore.

Moore tells REAL LI that her $19.9 million Sagaponack listing has gone into contract “for close to the listed sales price” and that the deal should close “very quickly,” as early as next month. Moore says the new owner of the eight-bedroom, 12,000-square-foot home on Parsonage Lane is a European. She declined to provide further details on the buyer’s identity.

The home had also been listed as a $1 million rental for the summer 2008 season. Moore says that another party had made an offer to rent the property for close to the amount, but was turned down in light of the sale. The seller of the property is real estate agent Andrew Saunders, who did not represent himself in the sale.

Moore’s last big sale was the $60 million deal on the Gin Lane mega-mansion once owned by producer Marty Richards. That sale closed in March. Tiger Woods had been rumored to be the buyer of that home, but Moore and Woods himself have steadfastly denied his involvement in the transaction.

The new buzz on Shelter Island's Bumble Bee Manor is a drastic price reduction from $35 million to $21.9 million.

The 3.25-acre estate is a co-exclusive between Andrea Ackerman of Prudential Douglas Elliman and Harald Grant and Ingrid Brownyard of Sotheby’s International Realty. Built in 2005, the gated estate overlooks Coecles Harbor with 325 feet of open, expansive waterfront. The 10,000-square-foot cedar-shingle style main house has 16 rooms, a banquet-sized dining room and an elevator, office, fitness room and media room.

Ackerman says that in addition to the estate’s own deepwater dock that will accomodate a yacht, there is also a nearby association dock that can hold any overflow of boats when guests come to party. There’s a three-bedroom guest house, a Caribbean-style poolhouse with a glass cupola and an infinity pool that looks as if it disappears into the harbor.

Bumble Bee Manor first went on the market in 2006. Shelter Island's Shorewood Manor recently sold for $12.4 million after a drastic price reduction from $33 million to $22.4 million.

The Old Trees saga continues…

As RealLI reported last week, the 10-acre Southampton estate that had been on the market since 2006 finally sold two weeks ago for $39.25 million. The asking price was $48 million.

The buyer and seller of the property, as revealed last week in the The Palm Beach Daily News, were financier Donald Burns, who sold Old Trees to Harlem real estate developer Rodney Propp.

The plot thickened this week when the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal provided further details on who might actually be putting out the welcome mat at Old Trees this summer. Both papers report that shortly after purchasing the estate, Propp flipped the property to hedge fund manager John Paulson. The Journal says that Paulson paid $41.3 million.

When RealLI asked Don Burns for a comment on the sale, Burns declined to name his buyer, but said, “I know the identity of the current owner, and I have a sense that his family is an excellent match for this one-of-a-kind home.”

Incidentally, as RealLI has reported, Propp’s Bridgehampton home is currently on the market with Susan Breitenbach of the Corcoran Group for just under $14 million. The Journal reports that Prudential’s Michael Shaheen is now listing Paulson’s Southampton home. The asking price $19.5 million.

So if Propp sold off Old Trees quickly and is also selling his Bridgehampton home, inquiring minds want to know if he’s already got another home lined up in the Hamptons. A source tells RealLI that he just may be the person who purchased that $60 million Gin Lane home that last month was rumored to have gone to Tiger Woods. Propp did not return calls for comment, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Last month, the East End was abuzz with news that golfer Tiger Woods may have purchased a home on Gin Lane in Southampton for $65 million. Woods steadfastly denied that rumor, as did listing agent Beate Moore of Sotheby's International Realty.

Rumors have now begun to circulate that hedgefunder David "Tiger" Williams is the new owner of the property. However, REAL LI has been assured by a source very close to Williams that while he does have a home in the Hamptons, he is not the buyer of the Gin Lane property.

What we do know for sure is that the final sales price of the home was $60 million and the new owner is South Lane Properties LLC, a Delaware limited liability corporation. We may just have to wait until the moving trucks pull up to find out more.

REAL LI had been hearing whispers, and then The Palm Beach Daily News reported yesterday that Donald A. Burns closed Monday on the sale of Old Trees, the 10-acre Southampton compound that has been listed for $48 million with Harald Grant of Sotheby’s International Realty.

Grant confirmed to REAL LI that the sale had indeed closed but cited a confidentiality agreement in not providing further details.

The News reported that the buyer is Manhattan real estate developer Rodney Propp and that the sale price was $40 million. When the News asked Burns if he had chartered a separate plane to carry his millions, Burns replied, "Not necessarily. Minus the commish."

Old Trees was built on Lake Agawam in 1911.The 15,000-square-foot home has 13 bedrooms and a dining room that seats 60 people. It had been on the market since 2006.

Propp currently has his six bedroom Bridgehampton home on the market for $13.995 million, listed with Susan Breitenbach of the Corcoran Group.

Propp could not be reached for comment on either sale.

It seems that the Tiger Woods story just won’t go away. The East End real estate world is still abuzz with the news that Woods may or may not have purchased a $65 million home on Gin Lane in Southampton.

On Monday, RealLI reported that the sale of the home, listed with Beate Moore of Sotheby’s International Realty, had closed last week. On Tuesday, a New York Post story declared that Woods was the buyer of the 6-acre property.

Both Moore and representatives for the golfer steadfastly denied the Post’s claim, yet the paper says that it stands by the story.

And now this from the Long Island Business News: David Winzelberg reports that his sources say that Woods is indeed the buyer, having paid full price for the mansion. (We had heard the closing price was closer to $62.5 million). Winzelberg says that other bidders for the home may have included designer Ralph Lauren and money manager Eddie Lampert.

As Winzelberg says, stay tuned.

Talk about a quick turnaround.

A Southampton house listed for $65 million — which hit the market in January and went into contract a month later — recently closed. When asked about the final selling price, Beate Moore, the Sotheby’s International Realty listing agent, said, “It was a big number, that’s all I can say.” Moore told Newsday in February that she expected the owner to get close to the asking price.

The eight-bedroom, 8.5-bath Gin Lane mansion, which closed last Tuesday, once belonged to film producer Marty Richards and his wife, Mary Lea Johnson, granddaughter of the founder of the Johnson & Johnson Company.

Moore declined to give the identity of the buyer or seller, citing a strict confidentiality agreement. Public records show the seller is listed as 1776 Investments Corp. That corporation is headed by Ivar W. Mitchell, managing director of Andlinger & Co., Inc., a private investment and management firm with offices in the United States and Europe.

A five-bedroom, five-bath Norman Jaffe-designed home on Meadow Lane in Southampton is now in contract. The oceanfront dwelling, built in 1986, sits on 4.2 acres and has a heated Gunite pool and outdoor spa.

The asking price for the property was $26 million; a source tells REAL LI that the sales price is closer to $18 million.

Listing agent Pat Petrillo of Sotheby’s International Realty acknowledged that the home was in contract, but would not discuss the parties involved in the sale or the sale price, other than to say, “we’re proud of it.”

Public records indicate that the home is currently owned by Amy and Van Greenfield. She is managing partner of Van Prooyen Greenfield Llp, a law firm that specializes in providing strategic communications counsel. He is the founder of several investment and money management firms, including Blue River Capital Llc. Three years ago, the SEC accused Greenfield of securing a spot on WorldCom Inc.'s creditors' committee in 2002 by falsely claiming to own $400 million of the company's bonds. Greenfield paid $150,000 to settle the case without admitting or denying wrongdoing.

The Greenfields’ home, which records show was purchased in 1999 for $659,000, is next door to one owned by former ITT chairman Rand Araskog, who is currently a board member at Cablevision.

Beate Moore’s $65 million Gin Lane listing is now “under contract” according to the Sotheby’s International Realty website. The 8 bedroom, 8.5 bath Southampton mansion once belonged to film producer Marty Richards and his wife Mary Lea Johnson, granddaughter of the founder of the Johnson & Johnson Company.

When asked about the current deal, Moore would not divulge any details citing a strict confidentiality agreement.

Last month Moore told REAL LI that there had been “a lot of activity” and that she expected the seller would get close to the asking price.

Real estate records list the current owner as 1776 Investments Corp. Public records show that 1776 Investments Corp. is headed by Ivar W. Mitchell, managing director of Andlinger & Co., Inc., a private investment and management firm with offices in the United States and Europe.

Moore is also listing several other properties with high pricetags including a $1 million summer rental in Sagaponack that is also on the market for $19.95 million.

The former Namagansett Club, which went on the market back in 2006 for $15.8 million, now has a lower price. Harald Grant and Ed Petrie of Sotheby’s International Realty are listing the six-bedroom, 7½-bath home on 3.5 acres for $14.75 million. William Wolff of the Corcoran Group is representing the property as well.

The owner is Edgar Bronfman, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Warner Music Group. Bronfman purchased the three-parcel property in 2005 for $12.5 million and finished renovations that had been started by a previous owner. In 2006, Wolff told Newsday that Bronfman had never actually moved into the house.

The home features wraparound porches, a wine cellar, a billiard and media room, a heated Gunite pool, a pool house, his-and-her offices and gardens designed by Deborah Nevins.

Interior designer Lorraine Kirke is selling her 11-bedroom 1890s mansion in the Georgica section of East Hampton for $12.95 million. The 7,000-square-foot home sits on 1.14 acres near Main Beach, and has three fireplaces, a heated pool and a guest cottage. Kirke is the British-born owner of Geminola, a West Village boutique whose clients have included Salma Hayek, Nicole Kidman, and Sarah Jessica Parker.

The designer is married to Simon Kirke, drummer for the rock band Bad Company, which would explain the recording studio mentioned in the listing for the estate. Last month he made a surprise guest appearance on an episode of A&E's "Private Sessions" featuring Ringo Starr, and in December he attended the Led Zeppelin reunion concert in London.

Listing agent Ed Petrie of Sotheby’s International Realty did not return a call requesting comment on the sale.

Are seven-figure summer rentals becoming commonplace?

Last month, Beate Moore of Sotheby's International Realty listed a landlocked Sagaponack home for $1 million for summer 2008. Another million dollar rental has now hit the market, this time a 6-bedroom oceanfront contemporary dwelling designed by Norman Jaffe.

Harald Grant of Sotheby's International Realty is listing the Memorial Day through Labor Day rental situated on Meadow Lane in Southampton. The 6,500 sq. ft. home sits on more than 4 acres, with 200 ft of ocean frontage, and has a Gunite pool and sunken tennis courts.

This is at least the second year in a row that Grant has listed a home for that amount, although he declined to give details of last year's rental, other than the price, when questioned by Newsday earlier this month.

Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg has added another property to his Georgica Pond holdings in East Hampton, a source tells Newsday. Spielberg closed on the purchase of the three-acre lot this week on Apaquogue Road for a bit less than the asking price of $19.95 million.

Sources say the transaction was handled by Spielberg’s lawyer, California-based Gerald Breslauer, whose company name appears on records for nearby tracts that Spielberg owns. Included in the purchase is a 4,500-square-foot, six-bedroom home that a local agent told Newsday last month was likely being purchased as a tear-down. “It’s all about land value,” the agent said. It has been reported that Spielberg is also in talks to purchase an adjacent lot owned by the estate of the late philanthropist Arthur Ross.

Spielberg’s neighbors include writers Nora Ephron and Nick Pileggi, who last summer reportedly rented their home to Paul McCartney’s ex, Heather Mills.

The listing involved a four-way exclusive with the The Corcoran Group, Sotheby’s International Realty, Brown Harris Stevens, and Prudential Douglas Elliman, sources say.

A source tells Real LI that Old Trees, the 1911 Southampton estate owned by financier Donald Burns, is in contract. The current asking price is $48 million.

The 10-acre compound has been on the market since 2006. Situated on Lake Agawam, the 15,000-square-foot home has 13 bedrooms and a dining room that seats 60 people.

Listing agent Harald Grant of Sotheby’s International Realty did not return a call about the sale, but last May Grant told Newsday: “It’s probably the premiere estate in the Hamptons. I am fortunate to have it as a listing.”

The home was previously listed with Jay Flagg of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Goldman Sachs chief executive officer Lloyd Blankfein had reportedly offered $41 million for the property early last year, rescinding the offer once word of the sale leaked to the press.

Another Gin Lane estate has hit market with an astounding price tag, this time $65 million. Listing agent Beate Moore of Sotheby’s International Realty tells Newsday that there “has been a lot of activity” on the Southampton property and that seller should get his asking price.

Moore says that the eight-bedroom. 8.5-bath, 13,000-square-foot oceanfront home was once owned by film producer Marty Richards and his wife Mary Lea Johnson, daughter of J. Seward Johnson, Sr., whose father founded the Johnson & Johnson Company. The current owner, she says, is a “European gentleman” who owns several other homes and “does not want such a beautiful house to sit empty”.

Public records show the mansion was purchased from Richards in 2003 for $23 million by 1776 Investments. Moore says the current owner renovated the home “to the highest standards” at an expense of over $20 million. The house, originally built in 1924, has five fireplaces, a music room, a library paneled with cypress wood, and a living room that overlooks a bluestone terrace and the ocean. There’s also a guesthouse and an olympic-sized pool, lily pond and rose gardens.

Moore says there is also 400 feet of ocean frontage with a deep rock revetment so that the house, “will never fall into the ocean.”

Beate Moore of Sotheby’s International Realty is listing a Sagaponack home for rent for Memorial Day through Labor Day 2008 for $1 million. That works out to a little over $10,000 a day for the summer season. The house is also for sale for $19.9 million.

Records show the owner of the eight-bedroom, 12,000-square-foot traditional home on Parsonage Lane is Andrew Saunders, a real estate agent for Sotheby’s in the company’s Bridgehampton office. Moore says that Saunders, a former Wall Street executive, is not representing himself in either the sale or rental of this property.

According to Moore, the home was briefly listed for sale last year for just over $20 million, and during a showing of the property, Saunders was offered $1 million to rent it out for the summer. At the time, Moore says, “The owner did not entertain the idea of a rental,” but the $1 million offer, “put the idea in his head.” Saunders, who currently lives in the home, now owns a second home in the area.

A $1 million pricetag for the season is not unheard of, but it is rare. Harald Grant of the Southampton office of Sotheby's confirmed to REAL LI this week that he had rented out a Southampton home for $1 million for the summer of 2007. Although Grant declined to give any details of the transaction, real estate sources say the property was an oceanfront mansion on Gin Lane.

A spokeswoman for the Corcoran Group says that company's highest rental for the summer of 2007 was $750,000. Of the asking price, Paul Brennan, senior vice president of Prudential Douglas Elliman says, "That's very ambitious...I have not heard of anything over a million."

While this new listing in Sagaponack does not set a record, it "might be setting a record for something that is not on the ocean," according to Janet Hummel of Town & Country Real Estate in Southold. "It’s a beautiful house," she adds.

Hummel says that the rental market for the summer season looks strong. Despite jitters about the real estate market in general, "people still want to be out in the Hamptons…we’ve had 20 rentals already in the Bridgehampton office, and three or four are pretty high end, in the $300,000 to $400,000 range."

Whoever winds up renting this home will be in good company. Rocker Billy Joel purchased two adjacent properties in Sagaponack last year. In June, Joel purchased actor Roy Scheider's home for $16.75 million for wife, Katie Lee. In November, the singer closed on the purchase of the house next door for $11.6 million.

The Associated Press has reported that a 5.9 acre property on Gin Lane in Southampton has gone on the market at $65 million, listed with Beate Moore of Sotheby’s International Realty. There’s an 8 bedroom, 8 bath, 13,000 square foot main house, as well as 7,500 square foot guest house, a spa, tennis courts and lily pond. The home reportedly once belonged to producer Marty Richards, and his wife Mary Lea Johnson, daugther of Johnson & Johnson company heir J. Seward Johnson.

Patricia Kennedy Lawford’s estate closed on the sale of her Southampton home on First Neck Lane in October, public records show. The 1.9 acre property had been on the market for $12.5 million since the spring of 2007, listed with Harald Grant of Sotheby’s International Realty. It sold for $9.8 million to a limited liability corporation.

The 10,000 square foot home has 12 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and tennis courts, gym and a horse stable. She had owned the home for many years; records show it was placed in a family trust in 1998.

Lawford, sister of the late president John F. Kennedy, married British actor and “Rat Pack” member Peter Lawford in 1954. The couple had four children, eventually divorcing in 1966. Lawford was a fixture at Hamptons society and charity events. In 2006, she died at age 82 at her Manhattan residence.

We’ve been hearing rumors that Old Trees, the 10-plus acre compound in Southampton listed with Harald Grant of Sotheby’s International Realty, has gone into contract. The asking price for the estate, owned by financier Donald Burns, is $48 million.

When asked about the rumors, Grant would only say that Old Trees is “not in contract” and is “still on the market.”

Whether or not that is true, you can’t blame Grant for being cagey. The New York Times reported last month that a previous buyer, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, rescinded an offer of $41 million for the property once word of the sale leaked to the press.

Actor Kelsey Grammer is at it again: The serial real estate buyer and seller has put his 7,500-square-foot Bridgehampton home on the market for $16.1 million.

The six-time Emmy Award-winner purchased the house new in 2005 with wife, Camille, for $8.5 million.

The traditional-style home is on 1.67 acres and has a heated Gunite pool, blue-stone terracing, a separate pool cottage with two fireplaces and a sunken Har-Tru tennis court.

Kelsey, who owns homes in Beverly Hills, Hawaii, Colorado and upstate New York, confessed to Hamptons magazine in June that, "My wife and I have a bad habit of developing and renovating homes. It's a silly little hobby, and a little expensive, especially since we don't tend to sell them after we've bought them."

The listing is with Faye Weisberg of Sotheby's International Realty's Bridgehampton office. She declined to comment.