A $31 Million Sale Leads List Of Recent Gin Lane Activity

Gin Lane is certainly full of fizz these days. A week ago, we reported that a property on that street in the Village of Southampton had just been put on the market for $145 million, and that if it sells for anything near that price it will be the second-highest real estate deal the Hamptons has seen. Now we can tell you about a property that has sold, 328 Gin Lane, with a couple of nearby ones waiting in the wings.

The seller is the estate of John F. Poster, and the price is $31 million. The property was most recently asking $32 million, though it was originally listed for $39.5 million in 2014.

Mr. Poster, who died in 2014, earned his wealth from manufacturing car parts. He was an avid equestrian and tennis player who also owned an apartment at 1010 Fifth Avenue. The building had been featured in the HBO series “Sex and the City,” and a neighbor was Arthur “Punch” Sulzberger, at the time publisher of The New York Times. There is an entire story in itself that 30 years before he died, in 1984, Mr. Poster purchased 328 Gin Lane for a mere $175,000. The original home on the property was destroyed during a hurricane, and obviously Mr. Poster created the carriage house on it that was recently sold for $8.5 million below the original ask.

The residence is a rather modest one … at first glance. It is only 2,500 square feet, with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a crawlspace instead of a basement. But the property is 2.64 acres and that includes 199 feet right on the Atlantic Ocean. The beautifully landscaped grounds feature a heated pool and a tennis court and stone terraces behind the dunes. And, we’re told, the property “exudes charm and old world elegance.”

Two other handsome properties on Gin Lane are for sale. For $17 million (give or take), you can own No. 237, which is 9,000 square feet offering 9 bedrooms and 10 baths on 2 acres. It too has a heated pool, a tennis court, and inside are four fireplaces. The owner of 281 Gin Lane is asking $15,750,000 for a 7,000-square-foot residence with 9 bedrooms and 10.5 baths and—surprise!—a heated pool and tennis court.