The most expensive house to sell on Martha's Vineyard this year, which was never officially on the open market, can also claim the title as the second priciest house to sell on Martha's Vineyard ever. While that trio of tidbits is somewhat interesting, none can compare with the reasons why the sellers decided to part with their incredibly gorgeous Edgartown manse. To refresh, the tricked-out Architectural Digest-featured stunner is a quintessential example of Vineyard luxe thanks to "architect Mark Hutker, landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh, stone mason Lew French, builder Doyle Construction" and the one-of-kind setting. Naturally, the year-round house has spent time as a pricey summer rental with rates for two-weeks asking $120,000 in 2013 and $150,000 just last month.
According to the Vineyard Gazette, the sellers of the Oyster Watcha Midlands spread, Megan and Warren Adams, bought the 15 acre property with an Atlantic-facing beach in 1999, the year they were married. If that doesn't sound like your average newlywed couple, perhaps this will clear things up, "Mr. Adams is an internet entrepreneur who founded Planet All, an online networking service that preceded Facebook and was later acquired by Amazon." Oh, okay, we've calibrated. As for the buyers, they are Dr. Leonard Schleifer and his wife, Harriet, of Chappaqua, N.Y. "Dr. Schleifer is the founder, president and chief executive officer of Regeneron, a leading science-based biopharmaceutical company based in Tarrytown, N.Y." The pocket listing sold last Wednesday with the assistance of "two high-end Edgartown brokerage firms," Landvest and Wallace and Co. Sotheby's International Realty, for a hefty $24,750,000. Here's what Megan Adams told the Vineyard Gazette about the decision to sell (h/t @SucketNantucket):
We loved the design and building process so much. But what we realized was not negotiable is being many, many miles from where our kids want to be. There are so few places in the world where two eight-year-olds can go out for ice cream on their own . . . For this next chapter, it's Edgartown. We're putting the 'town' in town.Indeed, close to $25,000,000, walkability, and ice cream would no doubt get just about anyone to move.
· Sale of Oyster Watcha Home Is Near Record at $24.75 Million [Vineyard Gazette]
· Three of the Cape & Islands' Priciest Summer Rentals [Curbed Cape Cod]
· Listing: 58 Oyster Watcha Road, Edgartown [Wallace & Co. Sotheby's International Realty]