REAL ESTATE

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Perhaps others should be looking east. "In a couple of years, the whole nature of Montauk will change as a lot more money comes in," Davidowicz proclaims. Desiderio agrees. "The future of Montauk is in the hands of people with a lot of money." She adds that the Warhol estate in Montauk (now owned by J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler) "is the most beautiful property I've set foot on in 26 years, with 300-degree views of the water." —S.W.

Through the Gates of Paradise
Are we fools in paradise to an ineluctable destiny that real estate values in the Hamptons—and almighty Manhattan—might one day disappoint? From Park Avenue to Meadow Lane to Lily Pond, and on to Further Lane to the cliffside estates along Old Montauk Highway in Montauk, the brightest stars still shimmer like royalty, untouchable by current events.

Sure, the credit markets are in disarray and hedge funds are collapsing, as many have predicted, leaving the very stars that heretofore reigned over our real estate parade tethered to an unthinkable slide. Witness the almighty Goldman Sachs—the architects of vacationland in the Hamptons—having lately less than stellar money-making moments downtown.

Yet I have all the confidence in our modern money mavens not to let the financial markets falter in a vulgar showdown. It still boils down to a pile of riches. The most successful learned that those become rich who love money for itself rather than what it can buy.

And so by all accounts the local real estate market at the highest level is performing quite well. Outfits like Farrell Construction blithely continue to erect their shingled castles, dotting an otherwise docile landscape with behemoths brokered by individuals who know no better than to reap their rewards arbitrarily.

A major coup occurred recently in the Georgica Association, an otherwise private enclave that still maintains civility and decorum. Reports were that a property listed for just a few days went under contract at $35 million. The buyer was an individual with hedge fund money. No surprise there.