Our gossip sources inform us that Neil Patrick Harris and husband David Burtka have purchased this sprawling property on Hands Creek Road in East Hampton for $5.5 million. Children Harper and Gideon are in for a fun summer exploring the 13.5 acres of land, along with a tennis court, pool, pool house, and separate garage, and lovely gardens. For extra privacy, the property sits adjacent to 10 acres of town-owned reserve land. The property was sold by Bill Stoecker of Town & Country, who (by the way) remained mum on the buyer. Original asking price was $6.5 million.
The property formerly belonged to publisher Barney Rosset, who challenged censorship by publishing D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer, as well as The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and authors such as Che Guevara, Ho Chi Minh, Samuel Beckett, and Allen Ginsberg. Life magazine in 1969 called him a “smut peddler;” he said he liked what he liked. After Rosset’s death, the house was sold; the next owner salvaged and renovated a barn on the property, which is now the double-height living room. He added another 4,000 square feet of space to the house, which now has four fireplaces, a wine cellar, and a rooftop hot tub. There are four bedrooms, all en-suite, with cherry, ash, and limestone floors. Great buy, Neil! (If it was indeed you, but our sources are reliable.)
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