Bernie Madoff’s Former Montauk Beach House Wants $17.9M

Notorious fraudster Bernie Madoff’s former Hamptons home is currently on the market. It was seen listed for $21 million in 2018, and now the Montauk residence is asking a slightly more meager $17.9 million. That’s still markedly more than the $250,000 the Wall Street Journal reports the Madoffs scooped it for in 1980, then just a 1.5-acre oceanfront plot. With a location that would no longer be permitted for construction today due to zoning laws and incredible views, the breezy bungalow is quite rare.

Located along Old Montauk Highway, the beach house spans 3,000 square feet and counts 3 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms within its floor plan. Acclaimed architect Thierry Despont helped completely renovate the home in 2011, with the result centering around a two-story great room. A soaring stone fireplace warms the space, which feels impossibly immense with barrel-vaulted ceilings and extensive glass doors. The ocean provides an ever-present pop of color to the interiors, its blue waves visible and beckoning throughout the home.

To get to the Atlantic, one must first pass by the pool and patio. Both open to the ocean, the outdoor living spaces bask in the sun just as much as the beach beyond. But even with this barrier, the sand does not seem so far away—in large part because the home actually sits atop a protected bluff as close to the ocean as can be.

Chris Coleman of Compass has the listing and politely declined to comment.