Berkeley Family Estate In East Hampton Sells For $7 Million

It is interesting enough that a shingle-style residence off Georgica Road in East Hampton has just been sold for $7.125 million.

Such homes are among the most appealing in the Hamptons. This particular one has three floors and 3,845 square feet of living space, which includes three bedrooms and 3.5 baths.

The new owner is 17 Crossways LLC, a company that traces back to Westfield, New Jersey.

But as is sometimes the case, the people behind the property have a story to tell or be told about them. This home, a 7-iron from Hook Pond and the Maidstone Club, was sold by the Estate of Norborne Berkeley Jr., who had a long and extraordinarily full life, which included being an active resident of the South Fork in his later years.

Mr. Berkeley had been born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and attended school in Virginia. When it was time for college he was off to Yale University. However, his studies there were interrupted by World War II. Mr. Berkeley enlisted in the U.S. Army and became an artillery man. One of the five major campaigns he participated in was the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Having done his bit, Mr. Berkeley returned to Yale, graduated, and he went on to earn a law degree from the University of Virginia.

Business, and specifically finance, became his specialty. Mr. Berkeley rose through the ranks to eventually become president of Chemical Bank, and later on, Chemical NY Corp., which over the years would evolve into J.P. Morgan Chase. Along the way, this war veteran and titan of the banking industry acquired the nickname “Bunny.” He served on numerous boards of directors, among them the Metropolitan Opera, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Tuskegee University.

Mr. Berkeley’s connection to East Hampton began in the 1940s, when his family purchased a summer home near Georgica Pond. In later years, when he and his wife spent time at their home on Crossways, especially after his retirement from J.P. Morgan Chase in 1982, he became a more active member of the community. An avid golfer, he was a member of both the Maidstone Club and National Golf Links in Southampton.

When he died in East Hampton in late December 2011, at the age of 89, he left behind three children, including Norborne Berkeley III.