Anyone who needs further evidence that the Hamptons is a haven for top executives at major broadcasting media companies needs to look no farther than two recently completed property transactions in East Hampton.
The bigger of the two—money-wise, not by status in the industry—was the sale of a manse at 11 LaForest Lane for $4,500,000. The buyer was Cormac G. Shields. The property is 1 acre and a mile from the Atlantic. Built by Alfred Scheffer, once referred to as the “dean of East Hampton architecture,” in 1959, the residence has 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, a formal dining room with wet bar, cathedral ceilings, and a kitchen with a fireplace. The new owner, “Cory” Shields, is the executive vice president of communications at NBC Universal, at its headquarters in Rockefeller Center. According to the company profile, he “is responsible for NBC Universal’s overall media and communications strategy and execution, overseeing the area of media relations.” (We’ll wager Mr. Shields is very glad not to have that role at Fox News right now.)
The other transaction we referred to was the changing of hands of a property on Muchmore Lane, also within the village boundaries and also at #11. It went for $3,950,000. Newly constructed, the 4,500-square-foot residence has 6 bedrooms and 6.5 baths on three levels, plus a garage. It features a gourmet kitchen, a dining room with a wine bar, a library, a media room, a living room with high ceilings and a fireplace, and expansive windows overlooking a bluestone terrace, swimming pool and spa, and a garden. The seller is Sheraton Kalouria, who is the president and chief marketing officer at Sony Pictures Television. And, don’t you know it, earlier in his career, he was senior vice president of daytime programming for NBC Universal. Mr. Kalouris’s present responsibilities are consumer licensing of Sony Pictures Television series and brands, among them “Breaking Bad,” “The Blacklist,” “Justified,” “Masters of Sex” and “Better Call Saul.”