‘Dune Cottage’ sells for $72M after $120M asking price

The ‘Dune Cottage’, which was once part of the historic Wiborg Estate and later owned by Lee Radziwill, has changed hands for $72 million. The sale of the 3.6-acre oceanfront compound in East Hampton closed in March this year, making it the largest known home sale in the Hamptons in 2026, Hamptons Coastal reported.

The estate at 43 East Dune Lane entered the market in 2024, with an asking price of $120 million. After sitting on the market for seven weeks, it received a $25 million discount, reflecting the pricing pressure faced even by trophy properties. Many prospective buyers approached, and the deal was closed for $72 million.Terry Cohen of Compass, along with Hedgerow Exclusive Properties and Chris Covert and Adam Modlin of Modlin Group Hamptons, represented the sellers.

The buyer’s identity remains undisclosed.

The property’s history

The home at 43 East Dune Lane is a 3.6-acre oceanfront estate with 225 feet of direct Atlantic Ocean frontage and a rebuilt main residence. Designed in 1910 by renowned architect Grosvenor Atterbury, the residence was commissioned as part of an 80-acre estate owned by Frank Wiborg, an ink-manufacturing magnate. Nearby Wiborg's Beach is named after him. Sara Murphy, Wiborg's daughter, inherited the property later, and it became a central figure in the Jazz Age social scene.

She hosted many legendary gatherings attended by prominent artists and writers.

Later, in 1941, the mansion was demolished, as it became too expensive to maintain during wartime. The smaller ‘cottage’ survived, and in the late 1980s, socialite Lee Radziwill, sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and her then-husband, Herbert Ross, bought the property for $6.2 million. In 1999, the property grabbed national attention after comedian Jerry Seinfeld signed a $19 million contract to purchase it.

But the deal never went through, as Radziwill and Ross backed out at the last moment. This decision came at a huge cost.

In 2001, Ann Tenenbaum and her husband, Thomas H. Lee, acquired the estate for $16.2 million. Tenenbaum, a venture-capital investor and philanthropist, and private-equity titan Lee gave the cottage a substantial renovation after buying it. The home underwent another meticulous reconstruction following a destructive fire in 2013.

The 2016 rebuild transformed the 11,000-square-foot main residence while still honouring Atterbury's original 1910 design aesthetic.

The couple lived in the Hamptons for 20 years. After Lee's death in 2023, Tenenbaum wanted to sell it. Talking to the Wall Street Journal, Tenenbaum said she wanted to put her Hamptons days behind her. “It was very much his place. I loved having family and friends around. I just didn’t love the Hamptons,” she told the outlet.She added, “I’m done with the Hamptons. Now it’s my time to go be in Santa Fe or Malibu or Greece. I don’t know… maybe I want to be a gypsy for a little bit.”

What the buyer gets

The main house covers more than 11,000 square feet, with eight bedrooms, 10 baths, and two half baths. Recrafted by master builder Ben Krupinski with tasteful additions to key living areas, the Hamptons home also has a detached two-bedroom guest cottage, a heated oceanside pool, and a tennis court distributed across 225 feet of direct Atlantic frontage.

There is a tunnel running from the pool to the lower level, which was engineered to prevent sand from entering living spaces. The full lower level houses a screening room, gym, wellness centre, and private grotto. The main living room, 15 feet high, opens to oceanside terracing overlooking the Atlantic.

Dune Cottage hit the market for $120 million, assuming buyers would pay premium multiples for oceanfront acreage, historical provenance, and a complete modern rebuild. But the market didn't quite go with it. It was sold for $72 million, which is a 40 per cent reduction, one of the steeper discounts in Hamptons ultra-luxury sales. The property sat for weeks before the price dropped to $95 million, then dropped again when a buyer finally materialised at $72 million.

According to the listing agents, that’s still a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own one of the most exceptional and historically significant properties in the Hamptons.”