A $13mn, ultramodern Hamptons escape unlike any other

Bloomberg

In 2005, George Fontini, a co-founder of Mudd Jeans, had recently sold the business for a reported $45 million to Iconix Brand Group and was looking for something to do.
“A friend was doing real estate out here,” Fontini said, “and talked to me about a property [in Amagansett, Long Island]. I came out, looked at it, loved it, and purchased it.” The price for the 1.84-acre hilltop lot was about $1.5 million, according to Fontini, and for several years he sat on it, unsure as to how best to use the land. “I could have flipped it, developed and sold it, or just built for myself. I had no specific plans,” he said.
Finally, in 2012, Fontini decided to build. Four years later, he has put the completed house on the market for $12.995 million.
The six-bedroom, seven-and-a-half-bath home is spread out over about 5,800 square feet of living space. Fontini said he met with four or five architects before settling on the Bridgehampton. N.Y.-based firm of Barnes Coy Architects. “They said, ‘You don’t need a traditional house, you need glass—you need to take advantage of this view,” Fontini explained. And so they embarked on a two-year construction project. “I was under the impression it was going to be a lot quicker,” he said. “But everything was custom, and it was well worth the wait.”
The main floor of the house has a double-height window with an open-plan living and dining room. The floor above has a master suite with two baths, an office, walk-in closet, and access to the house’s roof deck. On the lower level is a movie theater (“more important than a wine cellar or gym,” said Fontini), game room, and bar.
Outdoors, there’s a saltwater pool and hot tub, limestone patio, fire pit, and outdoor cooking area. The house also has a four-car garage.
The rest of the grounds is mostly wild. Initially, Fontini brought in a landscaper who planted greenery “that was supposedly deer- and turkey-proof, but that didn’t work out,” he said. “So we went back to the well and planted wild grass—the wind blows them and they look like part of the natural landscape.”
The house is primarily surrounded by forest; set north of the Montauk Highway, an arbitrary boundary that realtors love to emphasize when they’re discussing houses south of the highway and to minimize when a property is north of it. Relatively wild surroundings give the setting a remote feel.
After just two years in the house, Fontini said he’s selling to begin a new project. “I was thinking of doing it again, this time on the water,” he said. “My wife and I loved making this house. And it gives me something to do.”
The home is listed by the Atlantic team of Douglas Elliman.