One of Southampton’s most notorious estates is back on the market.
Named La Dune, the compound on Gin Lane isn’t only famous for its eye-popping price or its high-profile owner. The property, which has been on and off the market since 2016, starred in the 1978 Woody Allen drama Interiors. It’s now back in play for $150 million—and that amount will get you two mansions with beach frontage spread across four acres in one of the most desirable resort communities in America.
Inside one of the La Dune’s mansions (376 Gin Lane) Chloe Gifkins
The owner, art-world publisher Louise Blouin, bought the estate in the 1990s for $13.5 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. One of the homes, built in the late 1800s, is believed to have been designed by architect Stanford White, and Blouin used it as her main residence. The other property was originally a guest cottage that was torn down in the early 2000s and replaced with a home designed by French architect François Catroux.
Blouin shelled out $10 million on the construction of the second home. She told the Journal that she’s spent an additional $7 million to improve the property over the years. Between the two mansions, the new owner will have 23 bedrooms, 400 feet of beachfront and luxe amenities that include a spacious home theater, hammam, sauna, spa and two gyms. Each home on the estate has its own pool, and there’s also a sunken tennis court and lush landscaping by garden designer Arabella Lennox-Boyd.
One of the gorgeous pools located within the compound Chloe Gifkins
“I see the home as a masterpiece,” Blouin told the Journal in an interview. “It’s much like looking at my favorite painting in the world from Vermeer, ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring.’” Naturally, the publisher used the older, historic home as her main residence and the other mansion to house visiting family members. Seeing as they sit on individual, 2-acre tax lots, the homes could be sold separately, according to listing agent Geoff Gifkins of Nest Seekers.
Blouin is known for her defunct art-publishing empire, which at its height included Artinfo.com, Modern Painters magazine and a variety of other publications. She’s also been fighting in bankruptcy court to maintain control of the newer of the two properties. The legal proceedings stem from an unpaid $26 million mortgage that she obtained for the newer home in 2018, records show. Its balance has since increased to more than $40 million.
Click here for more images of the estate.
Chloe Gifkins
