WHAT: A rental house in the Hamptons
WHERE: North Haven, NY
HOW BIG: 7,500 square feet, 6 bedrooms 6.5 bathrooms
HOW MUCH: Beaucoup bucks
YOUR MAMAS NOTES: International mega-star Mariah Carey owns (at least) three multi-million dollar residences—in Los Angeles, the Bahamas and The Big Apple—but she's a long-time renter in the Hamptons, that traffic-choked but none-the-less drooled over sliver of sand at the far eastern end of New York's Long Island where the rich, the famous and those that hang with (and on to) the rich and famous flock in droves each summer to see and be seen on the casually dressed but relentlessly paced summertime social scene.
Miz Carey—whose admittedly impressive vocal acrobatics are completely lost on Your Mama—is blessed with bank accounts that seem to know no limits when it comes to livin' life high on the real estate hog. In summer 2008 Madame Butterfly (allegedly and reportedly) shelled out $125,000 for a one week stay at Stone Meadow Farm, a land-locked, 8-acre spread in East Hampton that offered the high-maintenance lady an 18,000 square foot main mansion with 10 bedrooms and 12.5 bathrooms plus two additional cottages to house her retinue of weave mistresses, toenail clippers, purse toters and angry-looking body guards.
The summer before that Mimi & Co. reportedly dropped around $350,000 to shack up for a month in retail clothing tycoon Tommy Hilfiger's 5 bedroom and 5.5 bathroom ocean front residence on East Hampton's much-coveted, astronomically expensive, and celebrity-lined Further Lane. Mister Hilfiger has since sold the property.
Some rather clever sleuthing by an informant we call Chatty Charlie indicates (but does not exactly prove) the multi-platinum Grammy winner, her variety show host husband Nick Cannon and their 1 year old twins have settled this summer into The Peninsula, a private, 1.9-acre bay front estate with 650-feet of water frontage in the wooded North Haven area of the Hamptons near Sag Harbor.*
*Mister Cannon tweeted several photos of himself lounging by the pool in what is, to anyone with eyeballs, quite obviously the back yard of The Peninsula property in North Haven.
The length and financial terms of their (alleged) Hamptons rental are unknown—at least to Your Mama—but listing information we juiced up out of the interweb reveals the swank spread was last listed for lease at $125,000 for just the month of July and $150,000 for the month of August (through Labor Day).
Remote-controlled gates open to a driveway that splits and s-curves up the front of the approximately 7,500 square foot cedar shingled mansion and swoops around to and attached, side entry 3-car garage luxuriously equipped with radiant heated floors. We don't know it to be but would any of the children be at all surprised to learn the garage was also air conditioned? No, of course not.
A double-height foyer and circular vestibule lead to the main living/entertaining areas that include a "formal" living room with French doors that allow for a sweeping view over the backyard, through the trees, and over the bay towards Shelter Island; a formal dining room (with big ol' butler's pantry); a den with built-in bookshelves, entertainment center, fireplace and more French doors; and a colossal, center island eat-in kitchen finished with miles of Shaker-style cabinetry (some with glass doors), acres of thick slab marble counter tops and the full complement of top-grade, commercial-style appliances. A shallow archway connects the family- and chef-friendly kitchen and breakfast area to a somewhat compact, window-lined family room with fireplace and even more French doors that open to the backyard.
There are 5 family/guest bedrooms, one on the main floor and four on the second. Each family/guest bedroom has a private pooper and two second floor suites have French doors that lead to private, water side terraces. The extensive, second floor master suite encompasses an entry vestibule, large bedroom with private water side terrace, separate, essentially octagonal sitting room with fireplace, and a walk-in closet the size of a small bedroom plus a separate dressing room. The attached bathroom is slathered in marble and mirrors and features dual sinks, giant jetted bathtub with water view, a cubby for the crappy (and bidet) and a separate multi-head (steam) shower.
The finished basement, according to one listing we perused, is outfitted with a movie theater, a wine cellar and—natch—staff quarters.
The back of the house opens to a Balinese resort-style complex with a massive, 60' x 30' negative edge swimming pool and party-sized spa flanked by a pair sunbathing decks that appear to float on the shimmering surface of the water. Photos tweeted (and captioned) by Mister Cannon show a very déclassé chain link fence was installed around the swimming pool and spa, presumably to keep the Carey-Cannon twins from crawling across the yard and falling into the water.
Although The Peninsula estate is just about entirely surrounded by water, there isn't any actual beach, at least not one that's easily accessible. There is, we note in aerial images available online, a gorgeous and secluded sandbar where (we imagine) nude sunbathing would hardly be noticed by anyone but only the most intrepid beach seekers would bother to tramp through the marshy woods that surround the landscaped areas immediately around the house, swim or boat across a slender creek, and traverse a scrubby dune to get there.
Should Mister and Missus Carey decide they really dig it, The Peninsula property is currently for sale with an asking price of $14,995,000, reduced from $16,900,000. Property records show The Peninsula is owned by a New York City-based real estate investor who also owns a trio of contiguous apartments in an architecturally festooned but dour, 35-foot wide townhouse supremely situated on East 78th Street just off Fifth Avenue and designed in 1900 by renowned high society architect C.P.H. Gilbert. The three third floor units were on the market until late May (2012) with an asking price of $8,750,000, reduced from its original $8,900,000 price tag.
Anyhoo, as mention at the outset, Miz Carey and Mister Cannon maintain (at least) three multi-million dollar residences: A fortified, hilltop mansion above Bel Air in Los Angeles, CA formerly owned by Farrah Fawcett and bought in 2009 for around $7,000,000; a titanic triplex penthouse in New York City's TriBeCa nabe opulently done up by Mario Buatta, a man who never met a chintz that didn't make him sweat with decorative desire; and an ocean front compound in the Bahamas scooped up sometime in 2008 for somewhere near $5,000,000.
listing photos: Corcoran and Prudential Douglas Elliman