A storied oceanfront estate on East Hampton’s coveted Dune Lane has sold for $72 million million, the biggest known deals in the Hamptons so far this year.
As Behind The Hedges previously reported last month, an oceanfront estate in East Hampton Village found a buyer. We now know the 3.6-acre spread at 43 East Dune Lane has closed officially at the $72 million figure on Friday, March 6.
The last ask was $84.9 million. Terry Cohen at Compass, Hedgerow Exclusive Properties and Chris Covert and Adam Modlin at Modlin Group Hamptons were the listing agents.
It’s unclear who the buyers are.
Dune Cottage, as it is known, is located off Highway Behind the Pond, situated between the Atlantic Ocean, Hook Pond and more than 200 acres of the manciured golf course at the Maidstone Club.
Listed in 2024, the expansive 11,000-square-foot residence, was asking $120 million, the most expensive property on the market at the time.
The home enjoys 225 feet of oceanfront. “The house is accessed through an allée of specimen beech trees and is situated atop a dune, offering magnificent views from a location that cannot be replicated,” the listing description reads.
Built in 1910, the stucco home is steeped in history. The Grosvenor Atterbury-designed home used to be part of an 80-acre estate that belonged to Frank Wiborg, an ink manufacturer and self-made millionaire, for whom the nearby Wiborg’s Beach is named.
The residence was considered the grandest of the time, according to an article in The East Hampton Star. Jazz Age socialite Sara Murphy, Wilborg’s eldest daughter, who was the literary inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald, inherited the property. By 1941, Murphy was unable to sell or rent the mansion and it became too expensive to maintain, so it was purposely burned down by the East Hampton Fire Department, The Star reported.
But the “cottage” on the property remained. Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ sister, Lee Radziwill, and her then-husband Herbert Ross eventually bought the house in the late 1980s for $6.2 million. It’s not far from where the former First Lady and Radziwill spent summers as children.
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld almost bought the house in 1999 and had a signed contract for $19 million, The Observer reported at the time, but Radziwill and Ross backed out. They eventually sold amid their divorce not long after.
Thomas H. Lee, a billionaire considered a pioneer of private equity investment and leveraged buyouts, according to CNBC, and his wife, Ann Tenenbaum, a venture capital investor and philanthropist, bought the property in 2001 after renting it for the summer. Records show Lee and Tenenbaum paid $16.2 million. They undertook major renovations, including rebuilding it in 2013 following a fire, but ensuring it remained much of how it was originally built, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Lee died in February 2023 at the age of 78 and Tenenbaum decided to put it on the market.
The living room features 15-foot high ceilings and opens to an oceanside all-season terrace with breathtaking water views.
There are a total of 10 bedrooms, 12 full bathrooms and two half-baths between the main residence and the 1,500-square-foot guest studio, adjacent to the Har-Tru tennis court.
A full lower level offers approximately 5,000 square feet of additional space and features a screening room, gym and wellness center.
A private grotto leads to an oceanside heated, 24-by-58-foot pool and spa, which are nestled amid the dunes.
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