Around six hours later, the auctioneer announced that the same person had purchased both properties; 376 Gin Lane sold for $40.5 million and 366 Gin Lane sold for $38.5 million. A 12% auction house fee known as a buyer’s premium brought the total up to its final number. There were seven bidders in total for the properties, according to a spokesperson for the auctioneer.
“The properties are stellar,” Chad Roffers, Sotheby’s Concierge Auctions chief executive, said before the sale. “That said, even by Hamptons standards, you’re at a price point that by definition, is rare air.”
A TROUBLED HISTORY
Blouin achieved some fame in the early 2000s when — armed with a fortune reported at several hundred million dollars derived from a classified advertising company — she created an art publishing empire. She acquired Art + Action, Modern Painters, artinfo.com and Spoon, eventually incorporating her last name into several of the titles. She opened an art foundation and regularly appeared at benefits and social events in Europe and the U.S. Blouin was dogged by lawsuits that alleged she didn’t pay employees, and the New York Post dubbed her “the Red Queen,” both for her penchant for wearing red and, the paper alleged, her propensity to fire people.
Blouin purchased the entire Southampton property, known as “La Dune,” in the 1990s, according to reports. Over the years, Blouin, who declined to comment for this article, tried to sell or rent one or both addresses, according to information on Zillow.com.
In October 2019, 376 Gin Lane was listed for sale at $52 million; a month later, its price was raised to $70 million. After drawing no buyers, it was delisted in December and then put on the market in 2022 for $85 million — only to be taken off the market again last year.
Similarly, 366 Gin Lane was listed for sale at $59 million in August 2019, had its price cut to $49 million a month later and raised to $70 million two months after that. A few weeks later, it was taken off the market. It was relisted in 2022 for $65 million.
Both properties were also listed for rental. In summer 2023, 376 Gin Lane was reportedly asking $1.8 million for August through Labor Day, although by mid-August the price was lowered to $1.1 million, according to the New York Post.
Even as Blouin was trying to sell the properties through holding companies, she put them into bankruptcy. First was 366 Gin Lane, which entered into bankruptcy in 2022 — two days before it was set to be auctioned off to repay a mortgage that had grown from $26 million to exceed $40 million at the time of the filing, according to court records.
The property at 376 Gin Lane filed for bankruptcy a year later. According to filings, it was saddled with multiple mortgages, federal tax liens in the aggregate amount of $4.7 million and “a disputed mechanic’s lien in the amount of approximately $94,000,” according to court documents.
As such, La Dune’s auction became something of a necessity, said Tim Davis, a Hamptons broker who is one of those listed as a partner in the auction.
“There are private lenders on this property, and part of being able to get away from any encumbrances on the property was to take it through this [auction] process,” he said.
DESIRABLE PROPERTY
Despite the legal drama, the property ranks among the most desirable in the Hamptons.
Built in the Gilded Age, 376 Gin Lane covers more than 10,600 square feet and has nine bedrooms and 19 bathrooms. Next door, No. 366 is a more recent construction but nearly the same size — just under 11,000 square feet — with 10 bedrooms and a more manageable 11 bathrooms. Each house has a pool.
Gin Lane is one of the most expensive addresses in Southampton. While the Hamptons real estate market has cooled from its pandemic-era highs, major sales last year included the $91.5 million sale of 26-32 Windmill Lane in East Hampton and the $91.5 million sale of 700 Meadow Lane in Southampton — two of the nation’s most expensive transactions.
Within that context, these sales might be perceived as something of a bargain. Davis, speaking before the auction, cautions against reading much into it. “I think it’s a unique situation,” he SAID. “I’m not concerned that the outcome affects the value of any other real estate.”
