Nearly 19 Acres of Farmland, Subdivided, Sold for $17.5 Million

An 18.9-acre parcel of farmland in Bridgehampton horse country, subdivided into six buildable lots, plus a conservation easement, off Millstone Road, has sold for $17.5 million.

The land at 255 Millstone Road is next to agricultural reserves and near other farms and the Southampton Hunt & Polo Club. It is 100 percent cleared and each lot can accommodate a house with pool and tennis, according to the Douglas Elliman Real Estate listing.

Associate brokers Paul Brennan and Martha Gundersen had the listing.

The first time Brennan represented the property in a sale, in the 1980s, it had belonged to farmer Tony Tiska and was sold to real estate mogul Ed Gordon. After Gordon died in 2000, his estate sold the land to Lloyd Zuckerberg, the senior partner of Samson Investment Partners, a family investment office.

The most recent farmer to work the soil was Tom Falkowski.

Zuckerberg listed the land last year with an asking price of $21.9 million.

The sales price went from around $2.5 million the first time Brennan sold it, to $4.5 million to now $17.5 million.

“Given the economic situation now, where everything seems to be tailing off, the fact that this is sold is a positive sign that things may be turning around,” Brennan said.

He said each lot will likely yield a 10,000-square-foot home.

Brennan noted that new homes of that size with a pool and a tennis court sell readily.

Still, this was not the outcome Brennan was hoping for.

“It’s unfortunate, I think, that they’re going to be six houses rather than 18 acres,” he said. “I think the town offered them $8 million — and it sold for $17.5 million. So they were a bit off the mark.”

He questioned the town’s spending of Community Preservation Fund money to acquire author John Steinbeck’s former home in Sag Harbor. The town outlayed $11.2 million of the $13.5 million total sale price.

“I guess John Steinbeck’s house is more important than 18 acres,” Brennan said.