A mobile beach home in the Hamptons was recently listed for $3.2 million, continuing the trend of homes in the Montauk Shores trailer park. The six hundred square foot home is considered prime real estate because of its prime location steps from the beach.
100 Deforest Road has two bedrooms, one bath, a small living room, and a kitchen. The modest space also has a private driveway, an outdoor shower, and a deck. According to the listing, the buyer will have “the exciting possibility of expanding and customizing” with the opportunity to add extra bedrooms or outdoor entertainment. Residents can access Montauk Shores’ amenities, including a clubhouse, pool, playground, and basketball court.
According to listing agent Christine Sparacino of Re Max Sparrow Realty — Center Moriches, potential buyers are focused on the location rather than the accommodations. “You can’t buy those views anywhere. It’s insane, honestly,” she commented in an interview with The New York Post. “You drive out there, [and it’s like] you’re at the end of the Earth.” The community is located directly on the shore of Long Island, and the views stretch from the beach over an endless ocean. Ditch Plain Beach is just steps away from the $3.2 million mobile home and is heralded as an oasis for surfers and beachgoers.
Montauk Shores, a formerly blue-collar trailer park, has experienced a new demographic of residents over the past few years. The views and prime beachfront property have driven prices up into the millions. Recently, properties have gone for $3.75 million and $4.4 million. The $3.75 million home is 800 square feet, and the $4.4 million mobile home is 2,150 square feet with two floors. “I know quite a few billionaires here,” Montauk resident and architect Fred Stelle said to The New York Post of the area just before the pandemic. “The most appealing aspect is the park’s quality of life. It’s a classic throwback to a summer community — relaxed and low-key in a funky way, like what Southern California must have been like in the 1950s, and it’s safe for kids.” Wealthy investors in Montauk Shores include Vitaminwater co-founder Darius Bikoff, hedge-fund manager Dan Loeb, and film producer Karen Lauder.
Interest in the area has only increased since the pandemic. Especially since COVID, individuals and families have realized the value of oceanfront communities and are paying up for them,” real estate agent Will Gold told The Post last February after representing the buyer of a multi-million-dollar trailer in the community. Prices have skyrocketed across the Hamptons, where available real estate is rare and highly coveted. The cost of mobile homes in Montauk Shores equates to roughly $5,000 per square foot.
The trailer park, first established in 1958, hosts 199 homes. Resident Ken Hilderbrandt told The Post that when he moved in during the late 1990s, the trailers were being rented for as low as $50 a day. He bought his own mobile home for $96,500 and remembers that it had a rotted-through window at the time of purchase. Billionaires started showing interest in the 2000s, and Hilderbrandt’s property is now worth approximately $5 million.
