Entrepreneur Slashes Lavish Hamptons Estate By A Third To $95M

A lavish Hamptons estate once listed for $140 million has been slashed to $95 million as the owner is selling off the estate to pay off debts.

Tough Lessons: The entrepreneur and property owner, Chris Whittle faces the threat of the property being “forcibly auctioned to pay off his debts” at a substantially reduced price, reports the The Wall Street Journal.

Whittle helped found a private school network based in New York and his creditor, Avenues Global Holdings, is the holding company that owns the network, according to WSJ.

Whittle bought the estate in 1989. His circumstances have since changed and he is unable to repay millions loaned to him in 2013, amid a dispute that eventually ended at the state Supreme Court in 2018, said the report.

Possible Spring Auction: An auction of the Hamptons estate could take place in April, said the report.

The 11.2-acre property, known as Briar Patch, was built in 1931 on East Hampton's Georgica Pond. It has 1,156 feet of frontage on the pond as well as a view of the Atlantic Ocean.

More details can be found in the Christie's International Real Estate blog.