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THE SAG HARBOR EXPRESS October 11, 2007

Morpurgo House Sold for $1.46 Million

By Bryan Boyhan

The third act in the street theater that has been the sale of the Morpurgo house in Sag Harbor played out on Friday, and has thus far been the far more exciting - and mysterious.

The historic - but dilapidated - home was sold at auction to a man identified only as Brandon, on behalf of a woman whose name has not been revealed, for a purpose that is not fully known.

The winning bid, $1,460,000, nearly reached the starting bid price of $1,500,000 set two years ago for the first auction attempt. That auction, also played out on the front steps of the Municipal Building as was Friday's, resulted in no bids, but an audience of bemused onlookers. A second auction attempt last year, with a starting bid of $1,100,000, had the same result.

What was different this time, apparently, was a lower starting bid - $900,000 - and court decisions that cleared the way for an unencumbered sale. The house is owned by two sisters feuding over the sale of the house. Helga Morpurgo has sued her sister Annselm to liquidate the house and divide the proceeds. Annselm had instead held out for a sale of the property, most recently listing it for $4,500,000. (Other listings had it as high as $100,000,000, and over the years she had offered several partnership opportunities to develop the property into, among other things, luxury condominiums, artists space, and a corporate retreat). She had repeatedly attempted to throw up road blocks for the auction, and on Friday, as the crowds were filtering away, predicted the sale would again be challenged.

"I'm not happy at all. It's a steal," she said. "It will probably be reversed in a court decision."

On Wednesday, conceding she is already looking for a new place to live, said she had filed an objection to the sale and claimed officials will "have to carry us out."

Further clearing the way for the sale, however, was a magistrate's recommendation last week that no restraining order be placed on the auction.

The action started quickly on Friday, with the auctioneer, attorney Stephen Grossman, stepping out onto the Municipal Building steps declaring "It's show time!"

About 80 people stood on the sidewalk, clutching their sweaters and jackets around them against a brisk breeze coming down Main Street.

Claudette Romano opened the bidding and the man named Brandon quickly followed. Romano said after the auction that she owned a furniture store in Bridgehampton, The Mill, and had hoped to convert the Morpurgo house into a home for herself.

Bidding moved rapidly, in $10,000 increments, and it quickly became clear the battle would be between Romano and Brandon. Real estate broker Simon Harrison said he had a certified check and was prepared to bid up to $1.1 million but said, "They went right past me."

Indeed, Andrew Towner, attorney for Helga Morpurgo, said he noted several people in the crowd he said had come prepared to bid ("You can tell the people holding envelopes with checks in them").

By the time the bidding had reached $1.2 million, Brandon appeared bored by the repetition and Romano simply looked down and raised her hand slightly when it was her turn to up the price.

Finally, the wind tousling her red hair, she declined to respond to Brandon's final $1,460,000 offer. After the auction Romano glanced over at Brandon and shook her head predicting, "He was going to two million."

The new owner of the house is, apparently, a blond woman who stood behind Brandon during the bidding, and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek when the bidding stopped. They were seen later celebrating on the front porch of the American Hotel, and later still standing together in front of the Morpurgo house; she reportedly telling him, something to the effect of "I can't believe we bought this house," according to Debbie Lou Houdek, who had stopped to congratulate them.

According to Cold Spring Harbor attorney Dustin J. Dente, who represents the winning bidder, the woman plans to do a "loving restoration" of the building.

"It's an important building," he said, "and it adds character to the neighborhood."

While Dente was unsure how the building will ultimately be used, he said he didn't believe it would be used as a private home.

"It wouldn't be used beyond it's original intent," he added, noting its historic use as a multi-family house.

The certificate of occupancy for the building shows that it has eight apartments, although Sag Harbor building inspector Al Daniels notes that it has not been used to that capacity for well beyond the three year statute that determines whether the multi-family use can remain with the building, which is in a single-family, residential area.


Helga Morpurgo didn't take the opportunity to stay for the auction. After two disappointments, she was too nervous to

It's been said that the way to a woman's heart is through "mineral water". I swear I have that from reliable sources!

This is Vonderheide's Batesville Mineral Water Works located in Batesville, Indiana. Many women surely swooned in Batesville when their prospective beau's took them to Vonderheide's for a healthy shot of "mineral water". Of course, the date night was surely an abbreviated one, for the effect of a healthy dose of mineral water is more than a clear complexion! Oh, the stories this old water house could tell!

Easy ladies, this place has been out of business for some time now!

Dry brush filter applied, best viewed "Large" with a glass of mineral water.

Meet Patrick Cleary: party boy, loser, and spaz. Patrick's been trying desperately to transform himself, and the results have been so spectacular, they've almost killed him. Meet Wes "Whiskey" Keenan: he's a field biologist wondering if it's time to settle down. When the worst day of Patrick's life ends with Whiskey saving it, Patrick and Whiskey find themselves sharing company and an impossibly small berth on the world's tackiest houseboat.

Patrick needs to get his life together-and Whiskey wants to help-but Patrick is not entirely convinced it's doable. He's pretty sure he's a freak of nature. But Whiskey, who works with real freaks of nature, thinks all Patrick needs is a little help to see the absolute beauty inside his spastic self, and Whiskey is all about volunteering. Between anomalous frogs, a homicidal ex-boyfriend, and Patrick's own hangups, Whiskey's going to need all of his patience and Patrick's going to need to find the best of himself before these two men ever see clear water.