Hamptons Estate of Venture Capitalist Asks $23.45 Million
The Quiogue property, which belonged to late venture capitalist and art collector Jerome L. Stern, includes a private art museum.
The Hamptons estate of the late venture capitalist and art collector Jerome L. Stern—with a roughly 7,500-square-foot private art museum—is hitting the market for $23.45 million.
Affectionately nicknamed Camp Jerome, the roughly 17-acre estate on Quantuck Bay is located in the small hamlet of Quiogue in Southampton, N.Y.
The 10-bedroom main house was originally built around 1910, though the Sterns put on an addition after buying the property, said Geoffrey Stern, son of the late Mr. Stern. In addition to the “art barn,” the property also includes two guest cottages, a horse barn with three stalls, a swimming pool and pool house, and a tennis court. The property has a dock on Quantuck Bay.
Mr. Stern, who lived primarily in New York City, first bought the property in 1966 for $250,000—he added more acreage later on—and used it as a vacation home for his family.
In the early 2000s, Mr. Stern and his wife, Ellen, built a climate-controlled art barn on the property to house their collection of contemporary photography and sculpture, his son said. Surrounded by trees so it’s not visible from the main house, the 36-foot-high metal building has four main galleries. (The art is being sold separately and isn’t included in the price of the house.) Sculptures by artists such as Menashe Kadishman and Serge Spitzer are peppered throughout the grounds. “My father would make trails,” said his son. “You’d make a turn in the trail and find a sculpture. It was a wonderful way to enjoy nature and entertain yourself.”
The barn served as a private space for the family to view the collection, but they did occasionally open it up for tours and fundraisers. Geoffrey Stern said his father “loved to show if off, and educate anyone who would listen about the pieces of art.”
Listing agent Tim Davis of the Corcoran Group said for buyers who aren’t art collectors, the space would work well as storage for cars or motorcycles.
Mr. Stern died in March at age 93, and his son said the family is selling because they are spread out and continuing to maintain the home is “too ambitious for all of us to handle.”
“This was such an amazing place,” he added. “We just hope that another family will come along and enjoy it the way we did.”
