Remember those halcyon days of 2012? Obama versus Romney? The Olympics in London? Superstorm Sandy? “Call Me Maybe”? Good times. In July of that year, this oceanfront property, 240 Old Montauk Highway, Montauk, closed for $10.5 million. There was a fun 60s house–4000 square feet, six bedrooms, four baths, with a 1000 square foot top floor master suite–a kidney shaped pool (but of course) and a generous 2.2 acres of land, right next door to that nice Mr. De Niro. Back then, many people thought the place would be torn down–and you can see why, from a couple of old listing photos (the rather swell Heywood Wakefield dogbone chairs and table aside).
But it wasn’t. The new owner called in the interior designer for the Surf Lodge (Robert McKinley) and gave the place a trendy, funky 60s surfer vibe, adding a yoga deck overlooking the ocean.
And now Robert Dankner, president of NYC-based Prime Manhattan Residential, announces that the place has sold for $22.8 million. He represented the buyer in the off-market transaction. That’s the biggest sale in Montauk in 2018 (so far, anyway) and the all-time second highest sale in the hamlet, behind the recordbreaking Warhol estate sale. Rylan Jacka and Dominique Garstin of Sotheby’s represented the seller.
How is the Montauk market doing as a whole? Seems sluggish to us. There are a lot of new-builds along Old Montauk Highway’s north side asking pretty ambitious prices ($8 million, $13 million), but we’re not seeing a lot of sales. Anything in Montauk that’s $1.5 million or less is snapped up quickly. A new listing will test some prices: 8 Washington Drive (one house north of Old Montauk Highway) was purchased for $2.5 million in 2013, with two preexisting nonconforming structures on 0.68 of an acre. The new owner built a four bedroom house, a two bedroom guest house, added a gunite pool and a pool house. All very lovely but no ocean views except from the second floor, and the asking price is $10.8 million. For a couple million less, a buyer could have oceanfront (644 Old Montauk Highway), although not as lavish a property. On the upper end, both the former Madoff house and the Hirtenstein place (both nearby on Old Montauk Highway) are available for $21 million, under the $23 million paid for this property.
Well done to buyer and seller, and we’re happy the house was revitalized rather than torn down.
