RICH CRIBS

News Corp. chief executive Rupert Murdoch may have a new

neighbor to car-pool to work with. The house that conservative talk show host

and Murdoch employee Sean Hannity was trying to buy has officially been sold,

and two real estate sources say Hannity was the buyer. The 16-room mansion on

Centre Island closed April 30. The price was $8.5 million.

The Hampton-style house was bought from a trust set up after a transfer of

the property from Deborah Dolan, ex-wife of Cablevision's James Dolan. The home

was listed with Peggy McCormack of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty.

Regina Rogers of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate represented Hannity in

the deal. Neither agent would comment.

The house originally had been listed at $13.5 million in 2006, then

earlier this year was reduced to $10.5 million.

Agents say that despite a real estate slowdown, homes will sell if the

price is right. Centre Island is no exception. Patricia Altschul's nearby manse

went into contract last year soon after a price reduction from $18.5 million

to $15.8 million. It closed in March for $12.5 million to Londoner Colin

Buffin. Murdoch also recently dropped the asking price for his mansion from

$14.8 million to $12.8 million. One holdout is Billy Joel, whose Centre Island

estate, Middlesea, has been on the market since 2006. It was originally listed

at $37.5 million, with a drop to $32.5million in early 2007, but Joel has not

reduced his asking price in more than a year now.

A MAN CALLED HORST. The former Oyster Bay summer home of the late

trendsetting Vogue photographer Horst P. Horst is on the market for $1.85

million. The one-story white house sits on five acres of what is left of

Horst's original 12 acres, purchased from the Tiffany estate for about $5,000

in the late 1940s. In a 1991 interview, Horst told The New York Times that he

had sold an original Picasso painting to pay for the house.

Horst lived in the home until his death in 1999, at age 93. During his

career, he photographed and partied with Salvador Dali, Noel Coward, Greta

Garbo and Coco Chanel, all of whom visited him on Long Island. He also was

responsible for many iconic advertising shots, some of which were taken in the

garage at the home.

The house has four bedrooms, three baths and three fireplaces. Taxes are

$18,052 a year. David Haggerty and Angela Buzzerio of Daniel Gale Sotheby's

International Realty have the listing.

- LAURA MANN

FAREWELL, PANORAMIC. If you haven't heard, Montauk's oceanfront getaway -

the Panoramic View Hotel & Residence - is in its final season. The resort is in

the process of being converted into luxury villas by Distinctive Ventures of

Great Neck.

The new complex - Panoramic Luxury Villas - will have about 60 waterview

villas ranging in size from 2,200 square feet to 4,300 square feet, with prices

starting at $2.825 million. Amenities will include 24/7 concierge service, an

on-site caretaker, a fitness center, a beach attendant and an in-ground pool.

These "smart" units will notify the staff if something is amiss - say, the

heat isn't working properly.

And if an owner requires a helicopter or needs to have his or her bills

paid while away, that can be arranged, too, says Valerie Stone of Prudential

Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Brookville, who is handling sales with Barbara

Brundige.

The villas are being treated as "condops," meaning they are structured like

a cooperative but have the rules and regulations of a condominium.

However, in October they will begin the process of converting it to

condominiums. Rentals also will be available.

Interested in a seasonal rental this summer? A two-bedroom unit can be

fetched for $100,000, while larger units are going for $145,000 and $165,000,

Stone said.

- LISA DOLL-BRUNO

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