Not only are home sales prices reaching all-time highs in the Hamptons, but rentals are costing more than the price of some of the houses.
The latest case of East End sticker shock comes from a sprawling oceanfront estate on tony Further Lane in East Hampton that has just been rented for $750,000 for the year.
That’s the most money ever transacted for a Hamptons rental – even eclipsing the $550,000 rent that a young Russian heiress paid for socialite Denise Rich’s summer home in Southampton.
The 14-acre, 16-room spread owned by Christophe De Menil was rented to an unknown tenant, who will take the country-style Colonial for 12 months beginning May 1.
The home on 342 feet of ocean frontage includes six bedrooms, eight baths, a library, formal dining room, several fireplaces and a large gourmet kitchen, while the property features a 60-foot pool with a pool house and private path to the beach.
De Menil, a Texas-born fashion designer and an heiress to the Schlumberger oil fortune, also is selling her house in Sag Harbor.
The Further Lane home had been used for the past few years by De Menil’s daughter, Taya Thurman, a divorced mother of three and the older half-sister of actress Uma Thurman.
While the eye-popping rental is for the year – not just the Memorial Day-to-Labor Day season – brokers say the record rental price raises the bar on all rentals, regardless of the time frame.
“It’s going to encourage owners to take a shot at getting higher prices,” said Sotheby’s broker Tara Newman, who has a rental listing for $600,000, a record asking price for the three-month summer season in Wainscott.
Nearly 30 properties in the Hamptons are sporting $300,000 to $475,000 rents for three months of summer fun.
Sky-high rental
Memorial Day through Labor Day $400,000
July$150,000
August through Labor Day$175,000
Full year$750,000