Calvin Klein has quietly sold an East Hampton Village oceanfront estate he has long owned for a combined $85 million.
Two separate parcels near Georgica Pond traded—the 6.8-acre parcel with the residence sold for $75 million while the vacant adjacent 1.63-acre property went for $10 million, according to Suffolk County deed transfers.
The $75 million sale is, so far, the most expensive in 2021. Though a 42-acre Southampton estate known as Jule Pond, which features waterfront on three sides and unobstructed views of the Atlantic Ocean and Mecox Bay, was last asking $145 million before it went into contract in April, the final price has not yet been revealed.
Klein’s ex-wife, Kelly Klein, called 75 West End Road her home even after their divorce in 2006, but records show that the fashion designer was the seller. Meanwhile, he and his daughter, Marci Klein, a television producer best known for her work on Saturday Night Live, were on the deed for a neighboring vacant parcel at 69 West End Road.
The same buyer appears to have snatched up the side-by-side property. The buyers are listed as two separate but related limited liability corporations, Traumhaus 1 and Traumhuas 2.
The properties were not publicly listed for sale.
While the deal closed on May 17, Kelly Klein’s initials, “K.K.,” were still on a sign at the property’s gate as of two weeks ago when Behind The Hedges paid a visit after first hearing she was not living on West End Road anymore. She bought a waterfront property on North Haven, which currently houses a small fishing cottage, for $15.9 million.
Her new 1.69-acre property, once owned by former Vermont Governor Howard Dean’s in-laws, Dr. Herman Steinberg and Dr. Ethel Bookhalter Steinberg, offers 250 feet of frontage on the Sag Harbor Bay with a deep water dock. The last ask was $16.5 million.
She is leaving behind a home steeped in history. The home was originally built by Laura Brevoort Sedgwick James, before she was married, according to an article in The East Hampton Star. She commissioned the architect Joseph Greenleaf Thorp to design the house and hired George Eldredge, a builder. An addition was put on in 1894, and later a windmill tower was added in the middle of the house in 1899, which remains today.
Juan Trippe, president of Pan Am Airlines, bought the home in 1935 and substantial renovations ensued. The Trippe family sold the house in 1987 to Calvin Klein.
This is not Calvin Klein’s only real estate sale somewhat recently. In March of 2020, he also sold his Southampton Village oceanfront estate for $84.4 million. The Wall Street Journal reported a month earlier that the billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin was the buyer.
That property had been particularly controversial because he razed a castle-like mansion that had been known as “Dragon’s Head” to built a modern estate.
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