Deep Hollow Ranch Sold To J.Crew Chief

Montauk’s famed Deep Hollow Ranch, site of the “Back at the Ranch” concert series in the 1990s, has been sold to Millard “Mickey” Drexler, Chief Executive Officer of the J. Crew company, for about $12 million, according to Prudential Douglas EllimanVice President Paul Brennan, who brokered the deal.

The deal for the approximately 22-acre property, nearly 18 acres of which has been preserved from future development, was signed late last week, expanding Mr. Drexler’s already substantial land holdings on the East End. In 2006 Mr. Drexler, who is credited with the success of the Gap clothing retailer before he took over J. Crew, purchased the famous oceanfront Montauk estate known as Eothen, which once belonged to the artist Andy Warhol. Mr. Drexler also owns an oceanfront estate in Wainscott as well as a property fronting on Sagg Pond in Sagaponack.

Deep Hollow Ranch owner Gardner “Rusty” Leaver was in Texas on business and could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Mr. Leaver and his wife, Diane, will continue to operate and live at Deep Hollow for five years under the agreement of sale with Mr. Drexler, Mr. Brennan said, after which time the Leavers will move their cattle and horse breeding business to property they own on the north side of Montauk Highway across the street from Deep Hollow’s main pasture. The Leavers bought the ranch, where generations of Ms. Leaver’s family had worked for nearly a century, in 1971.

Once they have moved on, the Deep Hollow property will be spruced up a bit, though its overall appearance will change little, Mr. Brennan said of Mr. Drexler’s intentions.

“Mickey wants for nothing other than to own it and eventually do something nice there,” he explained. “It will remain basically the same, just as a more pastoral setting rather than a working farm. I think it will be a good thing for Montauk, it keeps the character in place.”

The Deep Hollow property consists of the main pasture area, about 18 acres, the Leavers’ ranch house at the southern end of the pasture and an undeveloped 2-acre area adjacent the existing house that is not protected from development.

Deep Hollow had been on the market since 2007, with a $17 million asking price. The Leavers sold the development rights to nearly 18 acres of the property, the main pasture on Montauk Highway, in 1983 for $120,000—one of the first ever municipal purchases of land for preservation on the South Fork. In 2008 the Leavers had proposed selling the ranch to the town for just over $4 million, but public opposition derailed the deal.