via dirt.com; by Laura Euler

What a year! To be fair, 2021 was an incredible year for real estate in general, with records being broken all over the place, from Palm Beach, Miami, and Montana, where Rupert Murdoch dropped $200 million on a ranch, to Vancouver, Dubai, and the Cayman Islands.

In Southampton, the highest price ever paid for a single parcel was achieved in 2021, with the $105 million sale of the former Ford estate. (Some may remember that in 2014, hedgie Barry Rosenstein paid $137 million paid for an estate on Further Lane, but that property was in three parcels.) The enormous, 42-acre oceanfront property, once known as Fordune but now known as Jule Pond, had languished on the market for four years, initially at $175million but with a last asking price of $145 million. Another market laggard also finally traded in 2021: Burnt Point, in Wainscott, sold for $47million, just about half of the $95 million pharma billionaire Stewart Rahr initially asked when it was listed back in 2015.

A number of this year’s top deals were done off-market. Calvin Klein astonished the world by selling an oceanfront estate in a clandestine off-market deal for $85 million, a price that puts it at number two on our list. The 10-acre spread had long been occupied by Klein’s ex-wife Kelly Klein. Real estate watchers will recall that in 2020, Klein’s sale of his contemporary house on Southampton’s Meadow Lane, for approximately $85 million trophy property collecting hedge funder Ken Griffin, was the number one sale in the Hamptons. (Calvin — any other $85 million properties we don’t know about? Call us.)

Speaking of Meadow Lane, often called Billionaires’ Lane, for the 1% of the 1% who own homes along the slender beachfront road, the Southampton street usually dominates the Hamptons top ten lists, but this year Meadow Lane had just two entries on the list, adding up to $113 million. Meanwhile, perennial bridesmaid Further Lane, in East Hampton, which is also ridiculously ritzy but sometimes a shade less expensive than Meadow Lane, had a great year, with three entries on the list adding up to $174 million. We’ve included Spaeth Lane, which is one of the tiny oceanfront lanes that lead off Further Lane, but even if we left it off, Further Lane would squeak past Meadow with $114 million in sales. There’s always next year, Meadow Lane.

$105 million
Jule Pond, Southampton
The 20,000 square foot residence features 12 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms as well as tennisand basketball courts, access to three ponds and the longest stretch of privately ownedoceanfront in the Hamptons, nearly a quarter mile. Bespoke Real Estate, Ellen Stern ofWilliam Pitt and Julia Fee of Sotheby’s International Realty had the listing; Bespokerepresented both the buyer and seller in the transaction and facilitated the deal itself.

$85 millon
West End Ave, East Hampton
The 8.5 acre estate long owned by fashion legend Calvin Klein but occupied by his ex-wife Kelly was sold in two contiguous off-market transactions to the same anonymous buyer. Klein purchased the historic 10,176-square-foot house and land in 1987 from the son of Pan American World Airways founder Juan Trippe, who owned the place for almost fifty years. The Kleins paid $3.6 million back then, adding a pool and a boathouse on the pond over the years.

$70 million
Meadow Lane, Southampton
This massive, 19,000-square-foot fixer upper mansion on almost 8.5 oceanfront acres traded fairly quickly and for a small $5 million discount. Sold by the family of late attorney and real estate investor Julia Vance Carter, the 19-bedroom compound, with 500 feet of oceanfront, is in need of millions of dollars in renovations. The existing house stretches 300-feet long atop the dunes, with a 1,000-square-foot living room and seven principal bedrooms, plus a four-bedroom staff wing. Three additional residences provide plenty of room for staff or guests. Of course, there’s a pool and a tennis court as well. The property was sold by Corcoran’s Tim Davis.

$60 Million
Spaeth Lane, East Hampton
The Otto Spaeth house was designed in 1956 for an art collector, who was also a vice president of the Whitney Museum, as a modern interpretation of a Shingle Style house. With 15,421 square feet, the residence has six bedrooms and five bathrooms.

After Spaeth’s death in 1966, the house was purchased by June Noble Smith Larkin Gibson. Her father Edward J. Noble founded both candy company Life Savers as well as the ABC television network. Ms. Gibson died last June at the age of 98; her heirs listed the property, set on just over five acres with 333 feet of oceanfront, asking $72 million. Brown Harris Stevens’ Peter Turino and Christopher Burnside represented the seller.

$59 Million
Further Lane, East Hampton
This East Hampton property sold in an off-market deal in February. The seller was legendary short-seller Jim Chanos, who’s been called the Darth Vader of Wall Street, the Catastrophe Capitalist, and the LeBron James of short selling. He is of course most famous for correctly predicting and shorting Enron. The property is what we’d call “semi-oceanfront,” as in, there are just dunes between the house and the ocean, but the Nature Conservancy owns the dunes. The house looks comparatively modest for the area, on a long, thin 2.97-acre plot, but there’s also tennis and basketball courts. Hedgerow Exclusive Properties represented the buyer and Peter Turino at Brown Harris Stevens represented the seller.

$55 Million
Further Lane, East Hampton
This property was listed for less than a month, selling above its $52.5 asking price. John Foley, embattled CEO of Peloton, closed on the four-acre spread in December. The 6,100-square-foot residence sports five bedrooms and seven bathrooms, along with 400 feet of ocean frontage. There’s also a detached two-car garage, gardens, and, of course, a swimming pool and spa. The master suite occupies a separate wing on the first floor with dual bathrooms, a walk-in closet, and sundeck, along with an adjacent office, and, we assume, a new Peleton. Hedgerow Exclusive Properties represented the seller and Douglas Elliman’s Catherine Juracich represented the buyer.

$47 Million
Burnt Point, Wainscott
Pharma billionaire Stewart Rahr first listed his 24-acre estate, Burnt Point, back in 2015, asking $95 million. The property first made headlines in 1996, selling to commodities trader David Campbell for a record setting $10 million. Campbell commissioned architect Francis Fleetwood to build the house, which was completed in 1999. Campbell then put the estate on the market in 2000, asking $50 million.

Rahr paid $45 million in 2005, then the most expensive home ever sold in New York State. The 2021 sales price is therefore only $2 million more than Rahr paid for it. Bespoke Real Estate represented the seller and Compass represented the buyer.

$45 Million
Beach Lane, Wainscott

First listed in 2020 for $52 million, this 11,000-square-foot modern house has six bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. It was designed by Barnes Coy Architects and boasts two acres of oceanfront land, along with a 72-foot-long pool. Inside are floor-to-ceiling tempered glass windows, 22-foot-tall ceilings, a steam room (complete with a sauna), a recreational room, a gym, a floating staircase, an elevator, and a golf simulator. Yes, you’re correct, you saw the place in HBO’s series Succession. Bespoke had the listing.

$43 Million
Meadow Lane, Southampton
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft scored this home in a $43 million off-market deal in April. On a modest 0.72-acre plot, the house formerly belonged to beleaguered HFZ Capital executive Nir Meir. Meir paid $10.5 million for the property in 2013, bulldozing one of the original Southampton summer cottages called A Wee Ly Mor. Not much is known about the modern house. Hedgerow Exclusive Properties put together the deal.

$38 Million
Jobs Lane, Bridgehampton
Another off-market deal. The main property sold as a new build in 2012; there is also an adjacent empty lot, which adds up to nearly five acres. The 11,000-square-foot house features eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, along with a two-story living room and media room. Outside, there’s a pool, private dock, 200 feet of frontage on Swans Creek and views of Mecox Bay and the ocean. Hedgerow Exclusive Properties had the listing.