$43 Million Tear-Down Approved In Sagaponack

The new owners of the oceanfront Sagaponack estate once owned by former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and his now ex-wife plan to raze the 6,200-square-foot house they paid $43.5 million for just last year, making way for a neo-Georgian design nearly double its size that affords better views of the sunset, according to the project’s architect.

The Sagaponack Village Architectural and Historic Review Board approved the demolition of the just 11-year-old house and the design of the new 11,200-square-foot structure last week, according to board Chairwoman Ann Sandford.

“It’s a very different kind of house,” Ms. Sandford said of the new design, which will feature a front facade of towering columns and octagonal windows in back for broad ocean views. “But it’s by a famous architect, and it’s beautifully designed. It’s kind of a gentle presence in the landscape, particularly from the ocean side.”

Ms. Sandford said the new house also will be set back farther from the ocean dunes than the existing house is, a nod to erosion problems experienced along much of the Sagaponack waterfront.

Ms. Sandford said that because of the size of the property, 6.5 acres in all, the new design needs no variances, even though it approaches the village’s maximum house size ceiling of 12,000 square feet.

Mr. Corzine, the former governor of New Jersey and one-time CEO of Goldman Sachs, and his wife, Joanne Brown, built the current six-bedroom, six-bath house in 2000. The interior was decorated by designer Marshall Watson and has been featured in numerous interior design magazines in recent years.

Ms. Brown took ownership of the house and property, which is on Gibson Lane, in 2002 as part of a divorce settlement. It was assessed last year at $21 million. In 2009, Ms. Brown rented the house to billionaire investor Henry Silverman for $900,000 for the summer season.

The property sold last summer to a limited liability corporation reported to be owned by hedge fund manager David Tepper, the founder of Appaloosa Management. The project has been represented before the village only by an architect, Jaquelin Robertson of Cooper, Robertson & Partners.

The new house is to be built by Ben Krupinski Builders, who has built homes for Martha Stewart and Jerry Della Femina and is currently managing the construction of the new Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill.