In Showtime’s new hit series Billions, Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (played by Damian Lewis) is not your average Wall Street hedge fund manager—he’s a man who came from nothing and used his incredible smarts and unshakable will to get to the top of his game. He survived 9/11 and became benefactor to his dead partners’ families. He’s untouchable—at least he was—until one brash, $63 million Hamptons real estate deal takes him from being a man of the people, to just another billionaire one-percenter and the prime target of U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti).
So, if his massive new home on Meadow Lane earned Axe all this unwanted attention from the law, and put his fund, Axe Capital, at risk, why would anyone want it?
Probably for the same reason he did. It’s a really, really nice house.
To break it down further, we present our top five reasons you’d want to live in the Billions house.
1. This is an oceanfront on Meadow Lane, Southampton’s most exclusive and expensive address. In fact, with the median home price reaching $18 million in 2014 (according to therealdeal.com), Meadow Lane is so posh it’s earned the moniker “Billionaire Lane.” The 5-mile street even has a private helipad so wealthy residents can make quick trips in and out of New York.
2. Your neighbors would be some of the world’s richest and most powerful movers and shakers. These kings of Wall Street and industry—guys like David Koch, William Salomon, Leon Black and others—are the folks who change outcomes of world affairs, fund elections, change the temperature of the stock market and pretty much have the world by the you-know-whats. Need to go next door and borrow a cup of sugar? How about $5 million? It’s all the same in a neighborhood of billionaires and CEOs.
3. Privacy, privacy, privacy. The house at 1610 Meadow Lane is massive and fully loaded (we’ll get to that), but it also happens to reside on a very substantial parcel of land. With Shinnecock Bay across the street to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, this house is centrally placed on 7.5 acres of gorgeous dunes. A long driveway keeps it back from the street and a long boardwalk separates it from the beach, where the other 99 percent can come and go as they please. An ardent Metallica fan like Axelrod can skinny dip in the pool without being seen and blast their Ride the Lightning album as loud as he wants—no one will hear it above the crashing waves and whipping wind. How many people can say that in the Hamptons?
4. The house is massive and fully loaded (have we heard that before?). This 18,000-square-foot beast is a lot of house, even for a hotshot like Bobby Axelrod. According to Curbed Hamptons, it has 12 bedrooms and 12 baths, two media rooms, swimming pool, tennis court, attached guest house and even a children’s play area with a playhouse designed after the main house and a zip line. Finer points include cathedral ceilings, post and beam details, solid wood columns and gorgeous water views to the north and south.
5. It’s a killer investment. Despite market fluctuations, the Hamptons’ most prestigious, top-tier homes appreciate in value year after year—even if the next billionaire buyer decides to tear it down and build his or her own dream house on the land. For those not interested in selling, a one-month rental can bring in several hundred thousand. In 2012, Curbed reported the house listed at $275,000 for the month of July or $137,500 for a week, which breaks down to $800 per hour.
Watch Billions Sundays at 10 p.m. on Showtime.
For more Hamptons real estate news, visit HamptonsBehindtheHedges.com.
