Historic Quogue Estate Hits Market For $25 Million

In recent weeks, there have been numerous reports that the East Hampton home of Hilary Knight, illustrator of the “Eloise” series of children’s books, is for sale. Now on the market, on the western side of the Shinnecock Canal in Quogue, is the former home of the author Eleanor Sloan. OK, not the same level of excitement, but the property, known as Sandacres, is one of the more beautiful ones in the Hamptons, justifying its $25 million price tag.

The sprawling waterfront property—represented by Enzo Morabito at Douglas Elliman—consists of 15-plus acres. The dwelling is almost 9,000 square feet, containing 11 bedrooms and 7 baths. It is appropriate that Sandacres is part of the Quogue Historic District because the same family has owned it for nearly a century. But there are plenty of modern touches. The kitchen has been recently renovated, there is a formal dining room, a library, five fireplaces, and the living room and den open up to views of Quantuck Bay. Also on the property is an updated two-bedroom cottage, expansive green lawns, a pool, tennis court, and a deep-water dock. Catch sunsets from there or from the main house’s second-story deck.

The estate was originally known as Sand Acre Farm after it was designed by the famous architect Stanford White of McKim, Mead and White and constructed in 1884 to be a summer home for Mrs. Robert Colgate, whose husband was the head of the corporation that became Colgate Palmolive. It was also known for a time as the Sandacre Poultry Yards, with The Collector, a Sag Harbor newspaper, writing about its chickens in a 1889 article.

Speaking of writing brings us to Eleanor Sloan. Related to the extended Colgate family, as a child Ms. Sloan spent summers at the Quogue estate. Two memoirs written by her about those days were published in the 1920s, first “About Ellie at Sandacre,” followed by “More About Ellie and Mr. Me Too.” Alas, Ms. Sloan’s literary career ultimately consisted of only those two books. Perhaps the new owner, after ponying up $24,999,000, will begin forging a whole new round of memories worth writing about.