Source: Mayor buys $20M Southampton estate
The 35-acre Cryptomeria Estate in Southampton has reportedly been purchases by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for $20 million. The estate is near high-profile golf courses. Credit: Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate
Michael Bloomberg is mayor of New York City, but when he wants to relax, Southampton is his kind of town.
The billionaire media tycoon signed a $20-million contract more than a month ago to buy a turn-of-the-century Georgian mansion on 35 acres in Southampton, a source familiar with the deal said Wednesday.
Named Cryptomeria for the kind of trees on the property, the 1910 home has 11 bedrooms and was built for Charles Blair Macdonald, who's in the World Golf Hall of Fame for designing America's first 18-hole courses.
He had named the estate Ballyshear, according to the listing at the Bridgehampton office of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Taxes are $42,110 on the property, which went on the market in April at $22.5 million.
Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said he could not confirm nor comment on the purchase.
The estate is "where the elegance of another era awaits you," the listing reads. "The gentle, winding, half-mile-long approach recalls the English countryside in its massive tree plantings, rolling lawns, grazing horses and the grand Georgian mansion in the distance."
On the grounds, Prudential photos show, flowers float on the outside pool, horses graze in the pasture and manicured greenery surrounds statues. Inside the mansion, intricate wrought iron frames a grand staircase, while a huge sunroom, a mounted buffalo head in the office and four-poster beds await visitors.
What's more, the mayor would be virtually surrounded by uber-exclusive golf courses. He's an avid golfer and last year partnered with President Barack Obama at Vineyard Golf Club in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., in what turned out to be a losing match for the president.
Cryptomeria is right by Sebonack Golf Club, with its panoramic views of Great Peconic Bay; the National Golf Links of America, designed by Macdonald; and the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, which will host its fifth U.S. Open in 2018.
With Newday staff writers Lisa Du and Stacey Altherr.
