On the market for the first time, this 11,530-square-foot home sits on 2.55 acres on Cross Highway in East Hampton Village. A house that large might be in plain sight, but Lori Schiaffino, the Compass agent listing the home, calls the location “a hidden gem.”
“Cross Highway is more peaceful than other roads in the area that have through-traffic,” she says. “No one knows where it is.” She notes the house enjoys privacy because of its proximity to an agricultural reserve along Further Lane.
The home was built in 2007 by Jeffrey Collé, the luxury estate designer/developer who counts Billy Joel, Alec Baldwin and Donna Karan among his clients, and is known for sourcing one-of-a-kind architectural elements such as gates, doors and flooring from other estates. Schiaffino says the home’s floor plan is a popular choice in Collé’s portfolio, but owners can choose different facades. The Cross Highway house, she says, is styled like an English stucco cottage, and will “last a life time.”
A gabled covered porch leads into a generous foyer with a built-in bench at the foot of the double-landing staircase. The bright entry way serves as the access point to all the common rooms on the first level. The 740-square-foot living room features a wood-burning fireplace, coffered ceilings of more than 10 feet and floor-to-ceiling paned windows on both sides. Flanking the fireplace are two doors leading to a 460-square-foot sunroom with hatch-patterned windows and continues the coffered ceiling theme.
A window-lined dining room (282 square feet) is accessed from a hallway that winds around the grand foyer staircase and also adjoins a butler’s pantry and wet bar that leads into the kitchen.
The professional grade chef’s open-format kitchen features Viking and Sub-Zero appliances, dual dishwashers, black onyx countertops and glass-paned upper cabinets. Combined with the adjacent family room and every-day dining area, it measures about 642 square feet. It features a fireplace and access to a 1,777-square foot covered deck with a custom-built, fully equipped outdoor kitchen and a media/entertainment center.
The north wing of the first level includes a bonus room, a hallway bathroom and an 184-square foot ensuite bedroom with a walk-in closet. Wide-plank Brazilian hardwood is used for the floors throughout the home.
The second level is devoted to six bedrooms, all of which are ensuite, and four with access to decks. The 675-square foot primary suite occupies the south wing, with its own office (nearly 300 square feet), balcony, two walk-in closets, a double-size bathroom with limestone surrounds, and a wood-burning fireplace. This floor also includes a common 324-square foot sitting room and a long hallway with window seating and built-in storage.
What makes this house a “never-have-to-leave” retreat is the lower level with its variety of rooms dedicated to leisure: billiards, arcade games, a recreation room with a full wet bar and a wall lined with temperature-controlled wine storage, a nearly 1,000-square-foot exercise room (equipment may be negotiated in a separate transaction), a tiled Swedish shower and spa, and side-by-side massage rooms. A glass door in the gym leads to an outdoor courtyard lined with stacked stone, a water feature, cascading gardens and steps up to the backyard.
The grounds include a 25.5 x 50 heated gunite pool and 231-square-foot pool house with a bathroom and lounge. The three-car heated and climatized garage is attached to the north side of the house and features storage for boats and bikes.
The house is approached by a long, winding graveled driveway lined with mature hydrangeas and other cottage-style flowering shrubs. Speciman trees include Copper Beech and mature Tamarisk, with great attention paid to plantings that provide a variety of color and texture. “You’re looking at “20-plus years of landscape design,” Schiaffino says.
Cross Highway, she says, is a “hop, skip and jump to the ocean” with Two Hollow Beach closest to the house, and 1.5 miles to East Hampton Village. Other nearby attractions include Egypt and Wigborg beaches, the Maidstone Club, East Hampton Village Nature Trail and Wildlife Sanctuary and East Hampton Duck Pond.
The home at 67 Cross Highway lists for $18 million and the details can be seen here.
