Tower House Sells At Olde Towne

Tower House, one of 10 estates—some developed, some vacant—at the 43-acre Olde Towne community in Southampton Village, sold at the beginning of February and is already a contender for the top 10 Hamptons sales of 2017.

The ultimate sale price for the 4-acre estate was $26 million, nearly a $4 million difference from the listing price of $29.9 million.

The shingle-style main house—outfitted with an elevator and a Crestron smart house system—has 8 bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, including 2 master suites. In total, the residence has 9 full bathrooms and 3 half-baths.

Among the many amenities and rooms are 6 fireplaces, a top-of-the-line kitchen, a great room, a breakfast room, a billiard room, a loggia, a living room and a lounge, and an oversized 3-car garage off a breezeway. The lower level holds even more: a theater; a gym complex with sauna, steam and spa bath; an entertainment lounge with full bar; and a wine room.

The second-story attached cottage, accessed by a breezeway and a second-story bluestone terrace, has a full kitchen, a living/dining room and two en-suite bedrooms.

The grounds, bordered in privet hedge, are protected with automated security gates. A gunite swimming pool has an oversized spa and a sun shelf for submerged lounge chairs. The pool-side cabana includes a sunken firepit and pergola, and the Deco turf tennis court is lined in lattice.

The identity of the buyer was not disclosed. Michaela Keszler and Erica Grossman of Douglas Elliman, Tim Davis and Gary DePersia of Corcoran and Harald Grant of Sotheby’s represented the listing.

Olde Towne boasts more than 440 specimen trees, more than 2 miles of privet hedge, a green, a meadow and adjacency to both a wooded preserve and a public meadow.

The former farm field was originally purchased by developer Bob Gianos for $33.5 million in 2006, and the project won Southampton Village Planning Board approval in 2007. Of the approximately 50 acres Mr. Gianos had bought, he returned 6 to the previous owners, the Fiores, under the terms of the sale, and 5.5 were donated to Southampton Village to expand the Richard L. Fowler Preserve.

To make Olde Towne more appealing to buyers, Mr. Gianos purchased a 1.55-acre lot across from the development where a 9,000-square-foot medical building stood. He paid $4 million, then sold the parcel to the Southampton Town Community Preservation Fund for $2.6 million, essentially contributing $1.4 million toward preservation of the land. The medical building was razed, drainage was installed, and the property was turned into a public area with walking paths.

The Fiores’ 6 acres were divided into three lots measuring about 2 acres each.

Mr. Gianos put his Olde Towne lots on the market several times—seven 4-acre buildable lots were listed for between $18 million and $20 million each originally, and later relisted in 2010 for between $10.5 million and $13.5 million—but a foundering economy made it difficult to find buyers.

Kean Development Company, based in Cold Spring Harbor, bought up the land in 2013 and took over the project, planning to start building on speculation. In addition to Tower House, Kean completed the estate Twin Peaks, which is listed for $39.5 million.