Sunday, December 21, 2008

Calvin Klein Wants to do His Part to Stimulate the Economy

The financial markets are in turmoil, a man named Bernard Madoff (allegedly) made $50,000,000,000 of other people money disappear in a spectacular Ponzi scheme, the credit markets are locked up tight, the banks and car companies are rattling their tin cups all up and down Pennsylvania Avenue and sixty-something year old bisexual fashion icon Calvin Klein applied to the town of Southampton to demolish the 50,000 square foot oceanfront mansion he bought five years ago for nearly $30,000,000 and replace it with a more modern, more minimalist, more fabulous, and, for him, more modest 17,500 square foot glass and concrete beach hut.

Ain't it nice to be filthy, stinking, up to your ears in money rich children?

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank the Lord. The place has been an eyesore in Southampton for years. Barry Trupin (original owner of the current house) really did a number on the town; Calvin actually cut down some of the turrets.

Anonymous said...

thank god! that thing was just heinous! he's doing the right (only) thing to save it

Anonymous said...

that house is really ugly!

Anonymous said...

Yes, Mama, it is nice to be filthy, stinking, up to your ears in money rich like Calvin Klein. Just so you can do things like this. I never understood why CK would own an ugly castle like this one when you and your brand stand for modern, luxurious minimalism.

Anonymous said...

That'd be 50,000,000,000 not 50,000,000.

Anonymous said...

What a waste. Why would you buy a house you don't even like? Is he one of those designers that pretends to be "green" too?

Anonymous said...

The interiors are absolutely amazing ... He spent years refurbishing which now seems kinda pointless as he's tearing it down ...

Yeah Mama, little typo ... should be $50 [B]ILLION ... Considering one family alone have lost $7.5 [B]illion!!

Anonymous said...

i am a designer myself and i have to say im always secretly shocked when clients feel it nesessary to built such monstreous home...half the time the space isnt used anyways...its all about "keepin up with the Jones"..but your not just building a monstrous house ..it means more of everything...furniture,cleaning..maintence..and the list goes on

Anonymous said...

Believe it or not, I have Sotheby's brochure on this house when it was for sale probably 15 years or so ago--at that time it was for sale for $6.5-million. If anyone is interested in a copy of the 2-page brochure, let me know--I would be happy to make a copy and send it to you. The house, before the horrendous 1984 alterations, was originally built in 1927 for the DuPonts. According to the brochure, the property is listed on Suffolk County Tax Map and property number 904-24-1-13 (I'm guessing it's possible to look it up that way??). Again, according to the Sotheby's brochure, the entrance hall is 26'x38', the reception room is 20'x40', the library is 26'x32', the parlor is 20'x28' and the living room is 26'x28'. The main living room of the original house (no idea if it survived the alterations) was moved from a residence in Chestertown, Maryland.

Ivy Lane said...

I will definitely stay tuned for the new mod version of the "beach hut"! and yes..it would be nice to be filthy, stinkin' rich..!

Madam Pince said...

Yes, CK is filthy, stinkin' rich, but he's not necessarily happy. I'm old enough to remember when his daughter, Marci, was kidnapped. For all his wealth and good looks, I've always gotten the impression CK wasn't the cheeriest chap on the block. Just my take.

Anonymous said...

You need to get a new bejeweled abacus that goes up to a billion+

That is three more beads on the slider.

A real big difference. 50 million would not even get you a decent G5 or Manhattan pad.

Anonymous said...

I think Mama had the odd tipple or two before writing this!

StPaulSnowman said...

No..........she just wanted to give chilluns the opportunity to spot the error and feel good about themselves........a commonly used parental ploy and it worked beautifully.

Your Mama said...

Yes, children, the champagne from last night's holiday party at H&J's was still numbing and fuzzing my brain this morning. We've fixed our error. Toodles.

Anonymous said...

IS it just me or is this house so tacky and big it's beyond fabulous? I would keep the outside, and do the interiors all sleek and CK like.

Anonymous said...

'I would keep the outside, and do the interiors all sleek and CK like.'

He did the interiors 'all sleek and CK like' a couple years ago ... read comment above!

Anonymous said...

his buttocks are sublime!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iViyKfcI1IQ

Anonymous said...

Mama, I don't know if you (or the chilrun) have lost interest, but I read in Cincinnati Magazine that Ambleside, Marge Schott's estate, is in final negotiations with a buyer. I have been very curious about this house since it first came on the market.

It went off the market some months ago and I have been Googling like mad to find out its status.

I am a huge fan of yours! Keep up the great work!

http://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/article.aspx?id=67686

Unknown said...

I think it sends a bad message in this economy to be tearing down a massive mansion and then building a new one.
I know it will provide lots of jobs and that is good, but he risks hurting his brand and be considered excessive, even though the current house is hideous.

StPaulSnowman said...

anon 10:56. Thanks for the update. I loved that house when Mama featured it and have wondered if it had sold. Talk about good bones!

Anonymous said...

I bet there is a dungeon where he flys in Russian girls , pays them $10,000 per hour and performs sexual acts on them all day.

Thats what I would do if I had that mansion - its the perfect setting.

Then I would drag them outside and set the dogs loose.

An Aesthete's Lament said...

I'm surprised Mr Klein's patience with that house's sheer, Dungeons & Dragons ugliness lasted this long. I'm also surprised the town didn't beg him to tear it down; why ask for a permit in this case? The glory that was the du Pont residence is long gone.

Anonymous said...

HE FLYS RUSSIAN GIRLS IN? Do you live on this planet, hes the biggest MO on this planet, likes real young boys, i mean real young. but when you are well off you can get away with things like that, however i strongly believe he should disclose more about his health before he hooks up with these youngins,,, its not cool. actually criminal.

Unknown said...

I would be interested to see a copy of the brochure on the house. I have a book "Houses of the Hamptons" and the DuPont house is one of the properties profiled. Please send to limitless_1978@hotmail.com.

Anonymous said...

When you have a net worth of a billion dollars you park money in places like big homes.

Anonymous said...

I would be interested to see a copy of the brochure on the house.

Please send to: a1etrader@hotmail.com

beachhutman said...

Beach Huts here in England, at Mudeford Sandbank can cost 1,000 dollars a square foot. Sold mine in 03 for that but then they are only 15x10foot footprint.

I write about them at www.msbnews.co.uk and also at
http://web.mac.com/beachhutman

There is an airport 5 miles away for any Russian Girls who want to visit. I bought another hut not far away because once you have lived on a beach, you want to live nowhere else.

lil' gay boy said...

Sadly, this bastardized structure completely obscured the original home for the DuPonts, which, frankly, was an unusual design whose main attribute was the aforementioned room moved from Chestertown, MD., and the collection of American antiques that has long since been dispersed to the four winds.

Time they tore this fucker down.

Anonymous said...

I've lived a bike ride away from this place most of my life, and while it's still ugly, in an odd way i've gotten used to it. Trupin was the guy who obliterated the DuPont place in the early 80's. He got a permit to add ten feet to his kitchen, and went ahead and built the Dinseyland of Vulgarity. The Old Guard was not amused, thought him shady. Boku de lawsuits. After that a guy named Galesi did some alterations that made it slightly more palatable, but it's still a hulking monster. I've read that Klein bought it for a song, even less than the $6m quoted above, but I may be misremembering.

And agreeing with someone above, I don't think CK is a terribly happy guy either. I'd see him occasionally at the defunct Swamp with a beautiful entourage, but he'd always be tripping on stairs or stumbling. This was 10 years ago though. Hope he's better.

Anonymous said...

gallessi owned the house and his daughter christine and he were in some photo, i think he put in a shark tank? crazy, she was my tenant for like 5years, in los angeles, decided to raise bees at the house in a residential neighborhood with her model boyfriend, then one day, ..... she was gone......... getting rid of the bees with the city and all was a real pain