The Real Housewives of NYC's Hamptons home plans
They may be called the "Real Housewives of New York City," but they kicked off their latest season in the Hamptons. Will they kick off this summer season there as well? Here’s a look at the girls’ real estate status and summer plans:
UP IN THE AIR
Jill Zarin will be travelling to and from the Hamptons to promote "Secrets of a Jewish Mother: Real Advice, Real Stories, Real Love" (Dutton, $25.95), a new book she's written with mom, Gloria Kamen, and big sis, Lisa Wexler. Zarin says they sold their Sag Harbor home at the “height of the market.” Now she’s trying to time it again. “Prices have come down 30 percent this year,” she says, “but they had gone up 30 percent five years in a row. So they’re still high. Bobby wants an 8- 10,000-square-foot monster with a movie theater that the whole family can use. South of the highway that’s $20 million; north, $7- to $10 million. I’m wondering if it makes more sense to rent.” She says she's looking in Sagaponack and Southampton.
IT’S ALL MINE
The Countess LuAnn de Lesseps not only kept her title in the divorce, she kept the Bridgehampton house. And the kids are back in school here. The cherry on the sundae? Her gorgeous French boyfriend, a wine importer whose business takes him back and forth to France. They spent a very romantic Valentine’s Day in Paris. Expect more international travel this summer from their Hamptons base.
BABY MAKES THREE
Last year Bethenny Frankel brought her new boyfriend to the villa she rented at the Montauk Yacht Club. Now they’re engaged and pregnant. No wonder she’s coming back. Far from the crowds, yet uber trendy, Frankel says she likes the club’s combination of activity and privacy and “can't wait to experience it with our new baby.”
WEEKENDERS
Alex McCord and Simon van Kempen come out to the Hamptons about five times a season, renting a house in East Hampton or Southampton or staying with friends. They’ll be at the East Hampton Library Writers Night in August with their book, "Little Kids, Big City" (Sterling & Ross, $14.95) coming out in April.
JUST LIKE US
Ramona Singer and Kelly Killoren Bensimon love love love their homes, especially when they pay for themselves. The girls didn’t need to put them on the rental market, but they did (Singer's house in Southampton, and Bensimon's house is in East Hampton-- and for the right price, you, too, can live like a real housewife.
THE NEW GIRLS
Film producer Sonja Morgan starts appearing April 15 on the Bravo hit realty show and entrepreneur Jennifer Gilbert later.
Morgan started coming back to the Hamptons after her divorce from John Morgan, financier John Pierpont Morgan’s great grandson. She’ll be renting a Water Mill “hideway” facing a horse farm, for her second summer. She says she and her daughter love the rose garden, which is filled with 100 varieties. “We sleep outside under the stars when it's warm enough," she says.
Gilbert (owner of Save the Date event planning and co-owner of Portamee baby carriers) will pack up her three youngsters and move out to their 6,500-square-foot, six-bedroom, eight-bath Sagaponack traditional shingle home, on almost 2 acres of hand-planted grounds. With all those “Save the Date” Hamptons events, she says, “It’s the only time of the year when I get to work from home.”
Getty Images photo: Jennifer Gilbert, Jill Zarin, Countess LuAnn de Lesseps, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Ramona Singer and Sonja Morgan
