Top 10 Fourth Quarter Sales of 2015

The top 10 fourth-quarter home sales as a whole fell short of reaching the height they climbed to in the fourth quarter of 2014—but they were nonetheless impressive, with the top price tag hovering at around $60 million.

The combined top 10 South Fork transactions totaled $306.79 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, while almost $352 million changed hands in the fourth quarter of 2014.

East Hampton and Bridgehampton tied for the greatest share of the top 10, with three apiece, followed by Southampton Village, which accounted for two. Montauk and Sagaponack each had one of the quarter's priciest sales.

The luxury market may have slowed down a bit, but big money is still changing hands—often with the identities of buyers and sellers masked by limited liability companies.

Kicking off the top sales is this oceanfront estate, which sold on October 27. Among the nearby millionaires and billionaires on Further Lane are investor Ron Baron and hedge fund manager Barry Rosenstein, who paid a record-busting $147 million for 16 oceanfront acres in the same neighborhood in 2014.

The more recent sale was the result of an “off-market” listing in which the property is only quietly offered for sale. Public records indicate that the 4-acre spread used to belong to the estate of the late Alan and Doris Freedman; Mr. Freedman had been chairman of the board and president of Ketcham & McDougall Inc., a manufacturer of desk accessories.

The new owner is listed as EH 226, a foreign limited liability company registered with the Corporation Service Company in Albany that acts as a registered agent for corporate entities.

Listed with real estate firm Saunders & Associates at the time of the sale, the property is near Two Mile Hollow Beach and contains an older house that will most likely be torn down and replaced. There are, of course, a swimming pool and tennis court, as well.

Art collector and gallerist Adam Lindemann bought this property, also known as the former Andy Warhol estate, on December 14.

Nicknamed Eothen," it overlooks the ocean and commanded the highest price ever for a residential property in Montauk, according to Paul Brennan of Douglas Elliman. Mr. Brennan shared the listing with Edward Petrie, now with Compass, who was with Sotheby’s International Realty at the time.

Owner Millard “Mickey” Drexler, CEO of the clothing and accessories store J.Crew, paid $27 million in 2007 for the 5.6-acre estate. It features six cottages positioned in a slight semi-circle that Mr. Drexler had renovated by the architect Thierry Despont.

Last June Mr. Drexler put Eothen up for sale along with an adjoining 22-acre horse pasture for $85 million. Although the two properties were packaged together, the option to buy one or the other was also available, which is what Mr. Lindemann did.

The new owner has a gallery on Madison Avenue in New York City, and he was familiar with the former Warhol estate and interested only in his compound. The billionaire art collector put his own 6-acre estate, just a few doors down from Eothen in Montauk, on the market for $29.5 million in November.

The former Warhol compound was built in the 1930s as a place to fish and hunt ducks for the Church family, whose business made and sold Arm & Hammer baking soda. Eothen was made famous by the late pop artist Andy Warhol, who bought it in 1971 for about $225,000, with his manager and film collaborator, Paul Morrissey. Much of its original 20-plus acres was donated as a nature preserve in 1993, and Mr. Morrissey sold the remaining acreage to Mr. Drexler.

Several of the duo’s famous friends stayed at the compound, including Elizabeth Taylor, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and The Rolling Stones, who rehearsed on the property for one of their tours.

This property, which sold on December 12, had been in William G. McKnight’s family since the 1950s. The buyer is unknown, listed only as SH 28 LLC.

The 3.7-acre oceanfront estate features two Tudor-style homes that may well face the wrecking ball. Mr. McKnight told the Wall Street Journal they had been built as the carriage house and caretaker’s cottage for the Wooldon Manor estate around 1900, but were altered over time and therefore not considered historically significant.

Earlier last year, the same LLC purchased an adjacent property, at 24 Gin Lane. This 2.7-acre vacant lot, which backs up to Gin Lane, was sold by local developer Jay Bialsky for $13 million.

The combined properties total almost 6.5 acres. The buyer reportedly plans to combine them to create one considerable parcel. The Wooldon Manor estate, which once spanned around 14 acres, was at various times a home to members of the Woolworth family and Edmund Lynch, a founding partner of Merrill Lynch.

In December 2013, hedge fund CEO Scott Bommer purchased Wooldon Manor from shoe designer Vince Camuto for $75 million. Not long thereafter, Mr. Bommer subdivided the property and sold it in two transactions for more than $80 million.

One of these sales included a 10,000-square-foot Tudor-style home, which was then resold, along with an adjoining lot, to a New York family for $50 million in July 2014. The other sale featured three lots, which were sold to Mr. Bialsky for more than $30 million.

Electronic dance music mogul Robert F.X. Sillerman sold this property, one of several estates he has on pricey Meadow Lane, on December 17.

Again, the buyer is cloaked in a domestic limited liability company, named after the property’s address, and listed with the New York City office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, an international law firm.

The oceanfront property is 2.4 acres and features a house, pool house, swimming pool and a tennis court.

At one point, Mr. Sillerman owned three contiguous oceanfront properties on Meadow Lane. In fall 2014, he put 1116 Meadow Lane, a 3.6-acre lot immediately to the west of 1100 and complete with a 12,800-square-foot home, on the market for $39 million. That property sold one month later for $37.5 million.

Mr. Sillerman still owns two other properties—1080 Meadow Lane, which is immediately to the east of 1100 and includes a house and a three-hole golf course, and 1099 Meadow Lane, an empty 3.5-acre lot that fronts the bay. Neither is for sale.

Mr. Sillerman previously served as the chancellor of Southampton College, famously appointing Kermit the Frog as the commencement speaker in 1996 to represent the college’s two-pronged focus on marine science and creative writing.

Once on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans, he restarted SFX Entertainment in 2012 after having sold the company in 2000 for $4.4 billion. SFX declared bankruptcy on February 1 of this year.

Grabbing fifth place on the list of most expensive fourth-quarter home sales is this estate near the ocean, with protected farmland, which sold on November 20. Both seller and buyer are listed as limited liability companies—the seller as Kelly Clan LLC, which is registered with Jay D. Waxenburg, Esq., in New York City, and the buyer simply as Further Lane 2015 Trust.

The 5-plus-acre property features a 17,000-square-foot, 10- bedroom, 12.5-bath manse, according to the listing with Sotheby's International Realty. Custom-designed by architect John Murray, and with interiors by decorator Victoria Hagan, the house features a media room/playroom, and the property includes a 60-foot swimming pool and a Har-Tru tennis court.

This 1.2-acre property sold for $23 million on October 29 after being listed for $24.95 million.

The buyer and seller used nearly identical limited liability names. The seller was listed as 377 Jobs Lane LLC, which is registered to Joseph Phair in Bridgehampton, according to public records. The buyer was registered as 377 Jobs LLC, which traces back to the Corporation Service Company in Albany.

Public records indicate that the price of the property rose substantially from its previous sale, in 2012, for $5 million. That increase most likely reflects the new, modern home that was developed by Sagaponack Builders. The 9,000-square-foot residence designed by architect Blaze Makoid includes six en-suite bedrooms, two powder rooms, four fireplaces, and a four-car garage. The home comes equipped with a three-stop elevator and “Smarthouse” technology with Savant audio and security and Lutron lighting control systems.

Outside features include a waterfront lounge and bar area complete with a spa, waterfall and infinity-edge pool that offer views of Mecox Bay and the ocean.

On November 12, Martha and Stephen Warm sold this property to 23 Hedges Lane LLC, which is registered with Ackerman, O'Brien, Pachman and Brown, an East Hampton law firm specializing in real estate matters.

Sitting on a spread of more than 5 acres, the 6,000-square-foot, Tudor-style mansion was built in 1929 and has eight bedrooms and 7.5 baths, according to a listing with Sotheby's International Realty.

There are two grand-scale living rooms, a formal dining room, a library and private staff quarters with a bath, the listing says. The interior also features coffered ceilings, cross beams and wide plank wood floors.

Outside, the property has a natural pond, an oversized swimming pool, and a tennis court, as well as a two-room guest house.

Both the buyer and seller in this transaction, which was recorded on November 17, are named as limited liability companies. The seller was Daniel Hedges I LLC, which is registered with O'Shea, Marcincuk & Bruyn, a law firm in Southampton. The buyer was 233 Hedges Lane LLC, listed in care of Mitchell Morgan of Morgan Properties, a real estate investment, development and management company in Pennsylvania, according to public records.

Sitting on almost 2 acres, the new, nine-bedroom, 10.5-bath, traditional-style house is more than 11,000 square feet, according to a listing with Saunders & Associates. The home features many bells and whistles, including a movie theater, billiards room, glass-enclosed wine cellar, an oversized gym with its own outdoor courtyard, and a sauna and steam room.

There is also an elevator, a three-car garage and a rooftop terrace. In addition, the property features a pool, pool house and a sunken Har-Tru tennis court along with an outdoor kitchen and fireplace.

This 1.5-acre oceanfront property has views of Sam's Creek as well as the beach. The parcel includes a four-bedroom home with four baths, a living room with a double-height ceiling and fireplace, a chef's eat-in kitchen, formal dining, and a two-car garage, according to a listing with Douglas Elliman Real Estate. There is also a heated gunite swimming pool.

Sold on October 26, it used to belong to Henry D. Wong, according to public records. The buyer was listed as LV Beachside LLC, registered with BLDG Management Co., of which the powerful New York real estate investor Lloyd Goldman is founder and president. In fact, Mr. Goldman paid the property taxes in December, town records indicate.

Linda C. Rose sold this property on October 6 to 296 Surfside LLC, which is registered with Alan L. Goldberg, a CPA in New York City.

However, Daniel Sundheim—apparently the CIO of Viking Global Investors, who has reportedly been dropping millions on Manhattan real estate—is listed with Southampton Town as the person who writes the property tax checks.

The 1.2-acre estate has water frontage on Sagg Pond as well as nearby access to the ocean beach. There is also an outdoor gunite swimming pool.

The single-story, 2,150-square-foot home has three bedrooms and three baths and is likely to be torn down so that the property can accommodate a larger, two-story home. In fact, the new owners have already applied for a demolition permit for the pool and associated structures.

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