ON GOLDEN POND

Society

By Gulfstream, helicopter, and limo, Hollywood power players have been turning a Hamptons patch of blue into Malibu East

JENNET CONANT

As summer colonies go, Georgica Pond was Arcadia: a pocket of forgotten Long Island farmland between Southampton, where the old Palm Beach set still congregates, and East Hampton, where Wall Street meets Abstract Expressionists. The inhabitants liked to think of themselves as publicity-shy and scornful of ostentation. The Georgica Association, populated by an old Wasp contingent, made its credo: "The promotion of the welfare of the residents on and about Georgica Pond." No ducks, crabs, or bluefish qualified under this clause. Neither, for that matter, did some human species.

These days the place is undergoing a sea change. Battered by quakes, mud slides, and fires, many of the movie business's big names are abandoning Malibu, and they've got Georgica on their minds. "The good parts of the pond are now absolutely the most exclusive part of the Hamptons," says John Golden of Sotheby's International Realty. "Georgica has always been glamorous; it's just more so than ever. It used to be old Wasp, now it's new Hollywood."

Georgica, no ordinary pond, is more of a glorified tide pool, a catch basin for five narrow fingers of water, with spectacular ocean views. The most coveted area now dubbed "Malibu East"— is a small, sandy crescent on the palm, protected from the Atlantic by a slim sandbar. Bare, windy dunes give way to a row of baronial mansions which rival turn-of-the-century Fifth Avenue. The great estates feature gables, porticoes, generous porches, towers, tennis courts, swimming pools, screening rooms, multiple guesthouses, manicured lawns, and man-made arbors.

"Georgica has always been glamorous; it's just more so than ever. It used to be old Wasp, now it's new Hollywood."

It all began when Steve Ross, the late Time Warner chieftain, bought a house on the pond and persuaded his protege Steven Spielberg to buy a place near marketing whiz Chris Whittle's elegant spread. The Jurassic Park director, who never does anything in a small way, imported a barn and hired architect Charles Gwathmey to do it up as a postmodern showplace. (Spielberg is now expanding, and recently annexed the adjacent lot, where he is adding a guesthouse, a carriage house, and a stable.) Not to be outdone, Calvin and Kelly Klein erected the ultimate fashion

statement, moving heaven and earth— 4,000 square feet of pine trees and 7,000 blades of sea grass—to transform an old estate into their shingled Shangri-la. Just across the way looms the Creeks, the $12.5 million stucco palace belonging to New World Communications mogul Ron Perelman and his new wife, Patricia Duff, who was previously married to former TriStar chairman Mike Medavoy. Perelman bought the sprawling 57-acre estate, originally priced at $25 million, from the late eccentric artist Alfonso Ossorio's lover, Ted Dragon. (Barbra Streisand had been interested, too.) Also in Georgica but not on the pond—a critical distinction—are directors Alan Pakula and Nora Ephron and her husband, author and screenwriter Nick Pileggi. Ephron argues that it isn't Hollywood coming to New York as much as New York going Hollywood. "Twenty years ago everyone wanted to own a newspaper; today everyone wants a studio," says the author (Heartburn) turned director (Sleepless in Seattle).

Unfortunately for late arrivals from the Coast, Georgica Pond is small and already overpopulated. And prices, according to realtor to the stars Tina Fredericks, First "went bananas back in the 50s." Houses—which rent for $150,000 in high season and generally sell for anywhere from $1 to $12 million—seldom come onto the market, so even Hollywood heavyweights have to bide their time. Currently house hunting are Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson (the couple spent time last July chez Spielberg), and Sony honcho Jeff Sagansky. Perennially on the prowl for Georgica property are Streisand, David Geffen, and Barry Diller.

The Georgica list grows longer every year. "A lot of friends are leaving L.A.," confirms Toni Ross, whose father, Steve, would be impressed by the crush of stars at her East Hampton eatery, Nick & Toni's, which serves as the Georgica crowd's Spago substitute. On a warm summer evening, it's not unusual to see Spielberg, Robert De Niro, Alec Baldwin, and Kim Basinger. "There's a bit more anonymity here," explains Ross. "It's a subtler scene."

There are those who are actually attracted to the pond for its natural endowments. Even though she already owns a picture-perfect shingled place only minutes away, Martha Stewart recently snapped up the Bunshaft house, a modern travertine-marble-and-glass temple in Georgica, for $3 million. Says the lifestyle guru, "To live on the pond affords one a view not only of the pond but of a unique ecosystem peculiar to that pond."

The ecosystem may be growing ever more peculiar, a fact that irks some longtime citizens. "One is constantly meeting people who are absolutely appalled that you don't know who they are," grouses Donald Petrie, a partner at Lazard Freres, who has lived in Georgica for 35 years and pens the annual Pond Watchers' Almanac. At a Georgica get-together last summer, he was chagrined to Find himself confronted by an imposing blonde who refused to believe he didn't recognize her. His wife Finally came to his rescue. The blonde was Diane Sawyer.