$750,000
The most expensive rental in Hamptons history—and why it’s a good deal.

The Plot
This Further Lane estate was just rented at $750,000 for twelve months by an unnamed client, making it the highest-priced summer rental in Hamptons history. It’s owned by Taya Thurman, the older half-sister of actress Uma.

Provenance
Name-dropping perks include the heiress mother, daughter, and movie-star half-sister; former renter Sting; and the architect of the main house, Kate Gormley.

(Photo: From top, Aerial Easthetics; Courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens)

The Main House
Built in the late eighties, the two-story main house is a beautiful but bleak reinterpretation of the classic East Hampton gray clapboard. It has six bedrooms, six and a half baths, four fireplaces, a kitchen, a library, a kids’ playroom in the basement, and central air-conditioning. The main architectural statement is a double-height master suite with a cathedral ceiling and an ocean-view balcony. Décor is summery and subtle, with cheery area rugs, sisal-covered floors, and overstuffed furniture with canvas and chintz slipcovers.

The Beach
The 14.5-acre parcel with 342 feet of oceanfront and private beach access is one of the last plots to run uninterrupted from lane to beach. Except for a small balcony off the master suite, you can’t see the ocean from the main house.

The Beach House
The separate beach house, as it’s known—there are four bedrooms, five baths, and a library—is, according to one broker who’s been inside, “a tear-down. It’s old and funky and smelly and full of mildew.” Perhaps that’s because there’s no central air—a must during the humid summer—and although the house has heat, it’s not well insulated, making it nearly uninhabitable in the winter months.

The Pool
The 18-by-60-foot gunite pool is surrounded by a privacy hedge and outfitted with teak chaises and navy cushions.

The Math
The main house was originally listed for $400,000 for the season, and the beach house for $100,000. Brokers believe the beach house alone is worth $150,000 (lack of a pool and A/C brings the price down), and that the main house is well priced. At those rates, $250,000 for the other nine months seems like a bargain. Consider Richard LeFrak’s 6,000-square-foot mansion on five acres on Squabble Lane in Southampton Village with a five-minute hike to the beach, asking $350,000 for the year, or “Baby” Jane Holzer’s charmless Southampton Village pad—$450,000 for a six-bedroom wooden beach house with only 1,700 square feet on less than two acres.
—Steven Gaines