They say good things come to those who wait. Just ask Hard Rock Café co-founder Peter Morton.
Back in late 2021, his next-door neighbors, art world power couple Lloyd and Barbara Macklowe, hoisted their 1.5-acre oceanfront estate along one of the most coveted streets in East Hampton, N.Y., on the market with a skin-blistering $60 million asking price.
The asking price had plummeted to $39.5 million before Morton sauntered over and bargained away another several million bucks; per The Wall Street Journal, Morton is the not-so-secret buyer who paid “around $35 million” for the five-bedroom stucco-and-shingle home. Even with the discount the Macklowes still pocketed a small fortune; they purchased the property in 1992 for $3.45 million.
Listing agent Kyle Rosko told the Journal “The buyer doesn’t intend to demolish the home and plans to retain the original architecture”, while the NY Post subsequently reported that Morton intends to incorporate the property into his 1.3-acre spread next door.
Along a narrow strip of land between Georgica Pond and the Atlantic Ocean, the home was built in 1926 by Roger Bullard, architect of the legendarily snooty Maidstone Club. Originally a modest cottage with just three bedrooms, over the years the house was expanded to about 6,100-square-feet with five bedrooms and five and a half baths.
Beyond the graveled drive and detached garage, the property offers beautiful gardens (designed by Mrs. Macklowe) and an oceanside pool amid a great sweep of lawn. A duckwalk over the dunes provides access to the sand and surf.
The property was listed with Kyle Rosko and Marcy Braun of Douglas Elliman Realty, while Morton was repped by Ed Petrie and James Petrie at Compass.
Morton acquired his neighboring estate sometime around the turn of the century for nearly $10 million, according to WSJ. Listed on the East Hampton Historic Register and originally dubbed Heather Dune, the vintage home that stood on the property at the time of his purchase was totally destroyed by a 2015 fire and an almost identical, all-new residence was built on the old footprint.
Morton is well-known among real estate-o-philes in Los Angeles, where he’s bought and sold many homes all across the city. He shed his bespoke Richard Meier-designed beach house on Malibu’s Carbon Beach in 2018 for $110 million to billionaires Michael and Iris Smith but his primary residence long remains a 13,000-square-foot mansion in Holmby Hills.
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Image Credit: Rise Media / Courtesy of Douglas Elliman Realty -
Image Credit: Rise Media / Courtesy of Douglas Elliman Realty -
Image Credit: Rise Media / Courtesy of Douglas Elliman Realty -
Image Credit: Rise Media / Courtesy of Douglas Elliman Realty -
Image Credit: Rise Media / Courtesy of Douglas Elliman Realty -
Image Credit: Rise Media / Courtesy of Douglas Elliman Realty -
Image Credit: Rise Media / Courtesy of Douglas Elliman Realty -
Image Credit: Rise Media / Courtesy of Douglas Elliman Realty -
Image Credit: Rise Media / Courtesy of Douglas Elliman Realty