The most expensive homes sold in Nassau County in 2023

By Jonathan LaMantiajonathan.lamantia@newsday.com @jonlamantiaUpdated January 11, 2024

The most expensive home sale in Nassau County last year was an $18.5 million deal for a historic mansion on 13 acres in Mill Neck, according to a Newsday analysis of local market data.

The top 10 sales in Nassau were clustered among several North Shore communities, stretching from Kings Point to Centre Island. Two sales tied for the No. 10 spot at $7.5 million.

The highest-priced Nassau homes included sprawling Gold Coast estates and properties with hard-to-replicate views of the Long Island Sound. While their prices are 10 times higher than the typical Nassau home, Gold Coast mansions sold for just a fraction of the price of the Hamptons' most-coveted oceanfront listings last year. The top Hamptons sale was a $112.5 million East Hampton home with 500 feet of oceanfront. Ten sales in the Hamptons closed for at least $28 million.

“This high-end North Shore activity is much more representative of a 365-day residential market, more of the traditional affluent suburban market,” said Jonathan Miller, CEO of Manhattan appraisal firm Miller Samuel, who helped Newsday compile the list. “Whereas the Suffolk data was dominated by the Hamptons, which is a luxury second-home vacation market.”

None of the top 10 Nassau sales were south of Jericho Turnpike. The most expensive South Shore sale last year was a $4.95 million deal in Lawrence, according to OneKey MLS data.

Four of the top five sales were in Kings Point. The North Shore village has an advantage with luxury buyers over points east along the Long Island Sound, said Angela Dooley, who listed the second-highest sale in Nassau with Nicholas Colombos. The pair are the founding agents of Compass Long Island.

“We will always get a premium in Kings Point for those homes because of its location, location, location [close] to the city,” she said.

The median sale price on the North Shore of Nassau County was $1.175 million among deals that closed from July to September last year. That was up 7.6% compared with the same period in 2022, according to data from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel.

Higher interest rates — which made homes less affordable for Long Island homebuyers and motivated homeowners to stay put and hold onto their existing mortgages — play less of a role at the top of the market, said Katie Cuddeback, an associate broker at Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty.

“In this price range, the majority of buyers are cash buyers, so inflation and interest rates are not as much a factor,” Cuddeback said.

Soheila Sharf, owner of Soheila Sharf Realty in Great Neck, said the North Shore market benefits from comparisons to other ultra-luxury homes in the metropolitan area.

“In comparison with Manhattan prices or Hamptons prices, Long Island is very low-priced,” said Sharf, who brokered the sale of the No. 3 home on the list. “If somebody can sell a two-bedroom apartment in the city and come buy a beautiful house with a swimming pool on an acre, the prices are not so high and can go higher.”

Below are the 10 most expensive home sales in Nassau County for 2023. The list includes houses that were publicly listed and recorded as of Dec. 15, according to OneKey MLS.

This historic English Tudor mansion, called Wychwood, was once home to members of the Vanderbilt and Whitney families before its recent restoration.

The nine-bedroom whitewashed brick home, designed by architect Henry Corse and completed in 1937, is set on about 13 acres overlooking Oyster Bay Harbor, according to listing information. Mary Ellen Cashman and Leslie Davidson, of Compass, listed the property.

It was once the home of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt II, a former president of Belmont Racetrack, and businessman Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, a chairman of Pan American World Airways, according to the listing.

The estate also includes “extensive landscaped gardens and terraces, a heated gunite pool with pool house and a carriage house with staff quarters,” according to the listing.

The sellers were Renee and Jan Burman, chairman of B2K Development, according to The Wall Street Journal, which covered the home and its history when it was listed at $27 million in 2021.

Robert D’Angelo of DPR Realty in Great Neck brought the buyer, who bought the home through an LLC.

This 12,000-square-foot home in Kings Point village, built in 2020, is on Long Island Sound, with views of the Throgs Neck Bridge, Manhattan and Westchester. The six-bedroom home, built by Rockwell Developers, sits on 1.46 acres.

It includes a curved staircase as well as a blue oval-shaped library and a formal dining room with custom walls and gold-lined accent, according to the listing.

But what elevates the home to among the most expensive in Nassau is its vantage point of the Sound through a plentiful mix of square and arch windows, said Angela Dooley, of Compass, who listed the home and found the buyer with Nicholas Colombos.

“The views are what sold this home. They’re breathtaking,” Dooley said.

This 1909 gated estate features open-water views of Long Island Sound that stretch to Manhattan and city bridges.

The five-bedroom 10,000-square-foot house has a stone exterior and red-tile roof with a mahogany-clad foyer and oak-paneled dining room as well as a wine room in the basement.

“It’s a very special house,” said Soheila Sharf, owner of Soheila Sharf Realty in Great Neck, who listed the property and brought the buyer. “You can’t duplicate it.”

The home’s western views of the distant skyline and the bridges connecting Queens and the Bronx are key to receiving the highest prices for Kings Point, Sharf said.

“The houses you see that are waterfront for $6 million, $7 million, those are considered knockdowns,” she said. “It’s just for that view. Or for $6 million or $7 million you can buy new construction on an acre lot — nothing to do with waterfront.”

This European villa-style home on the eastern side of Kings Point offers panoramic views of the Long Island Sound on a smaller property, at nearly 1.2 acres, than some of the most expensive homes on the list.

The five-bedroom mansion includes a spacious living room with a fireplace, and an elevator to the second floor, which has an outdoor deck to take in the views. Its fully finished basement includes a pool table, gym and wine cellar. Outside, there is an infinity-edge pool and a 180-foot deep-water dock, according to listing information.

The home sold for $1.36 million in 1993, according to property records.

Sandra Rosen and Joseph Sanders, of Douglas Elliman, listed the property. Susan Cherney, of Douglas Elliman, represented the buyer.

The French Tudor estate with a cathedral ceiling sits on 3 acres overlooking Manhasset Bay.

The property includes an English garden, with a rotunda, irrigation system and a variety of flowers, fruits and vegetables as well as a greenhouse and dock access.

Jason Friedman and Sarah Friedman, of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty, represented the seller and brought the buyer.

This French Norman home, completed in 1928, is part of a sprawling 12½-acre estate designed by architect Benjamin Wistar Morris, of LaFarge & Morris.

The updated eight-bedroom house, partially covered in ivy, has amenities including a saltwater pool, pool house and guest cottage, according to Douglas Elliman.

It was built for Fremont C. Peck, the publisher of The Brooklyn Daily Times and The Brooklyn Times-Union in the 1920s and 1930s, according to his obituary.

Paul Mateyunas, of Douglas Elliman, listed the property.

Built in 2018 by local architect John Kean, this white brick home on nearly 5 acres is secluded down a long, private driveway and packed with amenities.

The more than 10,700-square-foot home has a double-height entry with a grand staircase and abundant marble for its countertops, kitchen island, primary bathroom and fireplaces, according to listing information.

Its finished basement includes over-the-top features, such as a temperature-controlled wine hall enclosed in glass, sports bar, pool table and poker room. There’s also a gym and indoor lap pool surrounded by penny tile flooring, according to the listing by Zach Elliott, of Nest Seekers International, who also brought the buyer to the deal.

This gated compound in the village of Centre Island sits on a knoll that overlooks sailboats moored in Oyster Bay Harbor.

The six-bedroom shingle-style Colonial home was custom-built in 2005 and designed by award-winning architecture firm Austin Patterson Disston.

It is set on nearly 3½ acres with about 229 feet of sandy beach along the waterfront. Its amenities include a pool with a pool house, a tennis court with a pavilion and a wine cellar, according to listing information.

“For the price range, it commanded a lot of interest,” said Katie Cuddeback, of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty, who listed the home and brought the buyer.

This historic and massive French Manor-style mansion spans nearly 33,000 square feet with 20 bedrooms on 6.4 acres and is located within the Glen Cove Golf Course.

The home has an elevator, 11 fireplaces and views of Long Island Sound. Margaret Trautmann, of Compass, represented the seller and buyer.

Originally called Bogheid, the home was designed by renowned architecture firm Delano & Aldrich and built in 1938 for Helen Porter Prybil, daughter of William H. Porter, a partner of J.P. Morgan & Co, according to the nonprofit Preservation Long Island, which included it on a list of endangered historic places in 2010.

It was later owned by Martin Carey, brother of former Gov. Hugh L. Carey, who called it Cashelmara, according to a 1985 article in The New York Times. The City of Glen Cove had once purchased the larger 120-acre estate that included this property for $325,000 but ultimately decided not to maintain it as a clubhouse.

This 8,000-square-foot mansion on 6.8 acres was recently updated and includes amenities for a variety of interests, according to listing information from Douglas Elliman. An adjoining 5-acre lot was also part of the sale.

The six-bedroom home includes a five-car garage, greenhouse, pool, cook’s garden and a patio with an outdoor kitchen. It has a two-story living room with a fireplace, plentiful marble and a fielded-panel study. There’s also a recreation room with a wet bar and a finished basement with a wine cellar.

Regina Rogers, of Douglas Elliman, listed the home and Kevin Wong, of JIA Realty Group, brought the buyer.

It had sold for $2.4 million in 1997.

This historic French Norman mansion in Oyster Bay Cove is adjacent to the golf course of the Pine Hollow Club and within the Syosset school district.

The home, once called Beau Pre and earlier The Pebbles, is 11,800 square feet and set on 7 acres, according to listing information. Nancy Cuite and John Canino, of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Laffey International Realty, listed the home. Cuite represented the buyer.

It was built around 1928 for Constance Woolworth McCann, granddaughter of five-and-dime store magnate Frank Winfield Woolworth, according to an earlier listing of the property.

The renovated home has a temperature-controlled wine room, billiard room, grand dining room and a seven-car garage. Its primary bedroom has a balcony that overlooks its English gardens. Outdoors, there are fountains and a pool with a two-bedroom pool house as well as a tennis court.

Back in 2019, the asking price was $21.9 million. In 2006, it sold for $14.6 million.

With Caroline Curtin