Ralph Lauren Buys Late Edward Albee's Montauk Home

Who’s afraid of Ralph Lauren? Apparently, not the sellers of the Edward Albee house in Montauk, especially when the renowned fashion designer, celebrating his 50th year in business, ponies up close to $20 million. Once the closing is held, Mr. Lauren will have completed an oceanfront trifecta as he reportedly already owns properties on either side of the playwright’s house.

As 27east reported this past July, $20 million was the ask for 320 Old Montauk Highway, where the playwright passed away at age 88 in September 2016. When he purchased the 3-acre property, Albee was fresh off the success of his Tony Award-winning play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and its Mike Nichols-directed film adaptation in the mid-1960s. He lived there part-time for the rest of his life, and upon his death, ownership was transferred to the Edward F. Albee Foundation. For decades, the foundation has hosted artists and writers for summer residencies in Montauk.

Though denied a Nobel Prize for Literature, Albee was a winner of many top awards for his theatrical work, including two other Tony Awards, three Pulitzer Prizes, and a National Medal of the Arts. Among his other most notable plays are “A Delicate Balance,” “Seascape” (not surprising, mostly written in Montauk), “The Zoo Story,” “The American Dream,” “Tiny Alice,” and “Three Tall Women,” which earlier this year enjoyed a revival in New York that has resulted in the 82-year-old Glenda Jackson earning her first Tony Award for Best Actress.

The Montauk manse now owned by Ralph Lauren consists of 2,970 square feet with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and two half-baths. Inside are stone floors, fireplaces, and sliding glass doors leading outside. A particularly desirable feature is that there is 200 feet of frontage on the ocean, which can be viewed from the house. Also on the property is a tennis court, guest house, pool, and pool house.