The late gallerist Barbara Gladstone was known to have an eye for talent, working with art world luminaries like Robert Rauschenberg and Keith Haring.
She also apparently had an eye for real estate. Her sprawling bayfront home in the Cutchogue hamlet sold for $11.2 million, setting a record on Long Island’s North Fork for a single-family sale. The sale was executed by Gladstone’s estate.
The home at 12120 New Suffolk Avenue hit the market shortly after Gladstone’s death in June 2024, asking $12 million. After an initial contract signed in January 2025 fell through, Compass’ Bridget Elkin and her husband Eric found another buyer in September who closed on the property today. Douglas Elliman’s Kristy Naddell brought the buyer.
The area’s previous top deal, a waterfront home in neighboring Mattituck that sold for $10 million last year, served as a point of comparison for how to price the home, according to Elkin. She also sold an $8 million home in Cutchogue earlier this year, which set the town price record.
“These landmark transactions sort of reflect the North Fork’s evolution into a more mature coastal market, and are approaching really like mid-tier Hampton benchmarks,” she said.
The deal is a high watermark for a stretch of land that has seen values skyrocket in the last few years as city dwellers moved out east, with many seeking the pastoral quietude of the North Fork in lieu of the bustling and scene-y South Fork.
“People see the value here…it’s somewhat of a saturated market on the South Fork,” Elkin said. “We have a little bit more of a non-flashy appeal.”
Gladstone purchased the home in 2012 for $5.5 million. She undertook a meticulous renovation with the help of local designer Hadley Wiggins that left intact the shingle-style home’s summer cottage aesthetic.
The 7,500-square-foot home sits on a 1.2-acre plot with 140 feet of bayfront that gives direct access to a private beach. The first floor features a waterside living room and dining room with fireplace alcoves and a screen-in outdoor porch with an outdoor dining room and kitchen.
The second-floor primary suite has an ensuite bath, multiple walk-in closets, a dressing room and a sitting room with an oversized fireplace. The rest of the floor has five other bedrooms, a library, an office, multiple wet bars and five bathrooms.
A gunite pool faces the water and bayfront lawn. A beach-side carriage house holds a great room, home theater, and gym.
Traditionally known for its more humble home nestled between acres of farmland, the North Fork experienced a surge of activity in the wake of the pandemic that has continued unabated through this year.
Prices have climbed sharply since 2020, culminating in the median sale price surpassing the million-dollar threshold earlier this year, according to data from appraisal firm Miller Samuel.
Gladstone, who died last year at the age of 89, had another one of her properties set a sales record earlier this year, albeit a heavily-caveated one. Her Annabelle Selldorf-renovated Chelsea townhouse sold for $13.1 million in August, coming out to $2,980 square feet per square feet, a record for a townhouse resale in the neighborhood.
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