A sandy stretch of land on the Hamptons beachfront sits idle in anticipation of its owners who refuse to sell despite many jaw dropping offers.
Eric Nathan, 77, described the 18-foot wide and several-hundred-feet long ‘driveway’ as his ‘ticket to the beach.’
‘I try to get out here every year,’ the Connecticut native told the New York Times.
The empty ‘driveway’ plot is situated next to several other properties on Dune Road and has been highly desired by purchasers eager to acquire a waterside piece of land.
The only markers to signify it as Nathan’s land are two blue wooden posts stood by the roadside before the drive.
Vast and costly beach homes line the roadway, each with their own beach access. Nathan’s plot is now adjacent to celebrities like retired New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and fashion designer Calvin Klein.
Due to the private property and land configuration, public access to park and reach the beachfront is minimal, making it nearly exclusive.
If the private beachfront access wasn’t enough, property taxes of around $15 a year and almost zero upkeep also has Nathan clinging onto the land.
Beach homes of vast size and expense sit along the Dune Road in the Hamptons, with their own private beach access
The only markers to signify it as Eric Nathan’s land are two blue wooden posts stood by the roadside before 730 Dune Road (pictured)
Eric Nathan (pictured center left), 77, described the 18 foot wide and several hundred feet long ‘driveway’ as his ‘ticket to the beach’
But despite jaw dropping offers, the plot means far more to Nathan than its value.
Nathan said he had once turned down $40,000 for the driveway, which is big enough to fit around six cars.
‘I wouldn’t sell for any amount of money,’ he told the outlet. ‘It’s my ticket to the beach.’
When Nathan was younger, his parents Edward and Suzanne Nathan had saved enough money for a cottage along Dune Road.
However, after a tragic incident and a natural disaster, all that remains of Nathan’s beach-filled childhood is the small private beach plot.
His parents had been in a car crash in 1984 near the cottage, where his father died before his mother passed not a few weeks after the accident.
Nathan, who spent a lot of time in the ocean with his father, said the crash ‘changed everything.’
Nathan’s A-list neighbors include New York Giants former quarterback Eli Manning and fashion designer Calvin Klein
Nathan’s parents were involved in a car accident in 1984 near their cottage, where his father died, and his mother passed away weeks later. Nathan, who spent a considerable amount of time in the ocean with his father, remarked that the accident ‘changed everything.’
After his parents’ passing, while residing in Manhattan, Nathan started bringing his three children to the beach, establishing a bonding tradition with his eldest daughter, Molly Paige. Depicted: Nathan with his wife, Ann Luria, and two of his children, Molly Paige and Eli Nathan.
He spread his father’s ashes around the cottage, into the ocean and next to his favorite pine tree, NYT reported.
Following his parent’s death, while living in Manhattan, he began to bring his three children and created a father-daughter bonding tradition with his eldest daughter, Molly Paige.
‘The best thing that my dad gave me, other than my siblings, is a love for the beach,’ Paige told the outlet.
‘He believes it can cure you; it will make a bad day better. That specific beach is, to him, almost otherworldly.’
Nathan would have kept the cottage standing, and continued his weekend visits alive, had it not been for a horrific storm in November 1992.
The nor’easter ripped many Hamptons homes into the ocean with record-high tides and hurricane-force winds.
The family’s cottage was one of the homes torn from land.
‘There wasn’t a splinter left,’ Nathan’s half brother, Ralph, recalled to the NYT.
The November 1992 nor’easter ripped many Hamptons homes into the ocean with record-high tides and hurricane-force winds and eroded the beach
Nathan’s half brother, Ralph (pictured), said he regretted selling his land ‘immediately’ after his family moved three hours away
As the beach began to rebuild, the small cottages that lined Dune Road were being replaced with stunning beach homes that were built to last through storms.
Ralph had looked to build on his inheritance of the land, but, as he was going through a divorce, he couldn’t live three hours from his children after his family moved to Westchester County.
So, he sold his land.
‘I agreed to sell the property,’ he said. ‘Which I regretted immediately.’
Suddenly, properties worth sums of $9 million with private beachfront access rose up around the brothers’ remaining sliver of land.
Now, their plot of land is a rarity along Dune Road, and they look wearily on plots like theirs being snatched up for development, including one directly opposite their driveway.
‘Sometimes I feel like a pauper out here,’ Nathan told the outlet.
But Nathan hopes, after years of memory making along the beachfront, that the plot will mean as much to his and his half brother’s children as it does to him.
Nathan hopes, after years of memory making along the beachfront, that the plot will mean as much to his and his half brother’s children as it does to him. Pictured: Eric Nathan (center right) and his children, Molly Paige (left), Sarah Nathan (center left) and Eli Nathan (right)
Nathan’s youngest daughter, 35-year-old Sarah (pictured center left), is set to inherit his portion of the land and all his children agree the land should not be sold
Nathan’s youngest daughter, 35-year-old Sarah, is set to inherit his portion of the land.
Sarah spent days in college driving to the plot with her friends and camping out overnight, and now she us. s it as a spot to park for a beach day.
Though she isn’t sure what she would do with the land, she too feels that it cannot be sold which is a sentiment that her brother and sister agree with.
Nathan’s children said their dad had such a deep connection with the ocean, and spent much of his time in the water.
‘His ghost will harass me for the rest of my life if I give up this driveway,’ Sarah told NYT.
