Rich Cribs: Whitney's Old Westbury home sells, and more

BIG SALE. A 20,000-square-foot, Georgian-style mansion in Old Westbury once occupied by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art, recently sold for $15.88 million, says Michael Berman, listing agent and president of Automatic Real Estate Associates. “It’s one of the largest sales ever in the history of the area," Berman says. Public records show that the seller is Steven Kantor, executive managing director of Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.; the buyer, says Berman, is Hui Qin, the largest shareholder of SMI, an entertainment company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange." Featured in Architectural Digest magazine in 2002, the mansion sits on 9.2 acres on one of the highest points in Old Westbury and abuts the Old Westbury Golf and Country Club. “The property is breathtaking and the indoor pool building is spectacular,” says Berman. The selling agent was Carolyn Liu with Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty.

GIGI BERMAN AHARONI

PRICE CUT. A French Provincial-style manse in the estate section of East Hampton has had a $1 million price cut -- from $6.975 million to its current asking price $5.975 million. Located within walking distance of two ocean beaches, the 6,000-square-foot home has four bedrooms -- including a first-floor master suite -- as well as six bathrooms, two fireplaces and a heated gunite pool and pool house with wet bar and bath.“The owners who purchased the home in the 1960s had it totally redesigned in 1999 by noted Bridgehampton-based Barnes Coy Architects making it the dream home they always wanted,” says agent Martha Gundersen of Brown Harris Stevens, who has the co-exclusive listing with Bob Steiner of Sotheby's International Realty.

CATHY MAHON

FAMOUS NEIGHBOR. "Can you spare a cup of sugar, Sir Paul?" asks the listing for this listed for $2.65 million property. Why? Because that’s what you could be asking Paul -- as in neighbor Paul McCartney -- if you buy the tony Bell Estate in Amagansett. "This five-bedroom, postmodern sprawls across almost two acres of pristinely maintained landscaped property with a gated entry that takes you down a long private drive,” says Gary DePersia , senior vice president at The Corcoran Group. The entry of the house contains a sundrenched great room with a fireplace and an open floor plan that includes a well-equipped kitchen and dining area. There’s a first-floor master bedroom with a fireplace and private outside access. On the opposite side of the house are additional bedrooms and baths to accommodate weekend guests. The finished lower level includes a media room, recreational rooms and staff lounge with full bath. A series of French doors access the mahogany deck that surrounds the pool, raised hot tub and pool house with bath. There is an additional recreational building, and bay and ocean beaches minutes away.

GIGI BERMAN AHARONI