A spectacular estate on secluded Water Island is on the market for the asking price of $6.25million.
According to a May 13 article in the Robb Report, the house is owned by fashion designer Michael Kors and his husband, Lance Le Pere. The couple purchased the home in 2001 for $950,000, dividing their time between a New York City penthouse and this private compound. They also have a beachfront home on Longboat Key in Florida.
Located on the Atlantic Ocean, the Water Island property boasts two separate homes, with a total of 5 bedrooms, 5 full bathrooms, and one half bath.
Designed by Scott Bromley of Bromley Caldari Architects, the home combines a modernist approach with a minimalist sensibility. Bromley, who designed the infamous Studio 54, was inspired by the work of George Nakashima, an American woodworker and architect, and Hans Wegener, a Danish furniture designer. Other sources of his inspiration were the celebrated locales Parrot Cay in the Caribbean, Big Sur in California, and Amangiri in Canyon Point, Utah.
“If you want a beach-bum life, you have to find beach bums,” Kors said in 2025, for an interview with Vogue Magazine. “And the architect, Scott Bromley – his idea of getting dressed up is if his shorts are clean.”
At 2,100 square feet, the main house has one bedroom, a full bath, and a powder room, cedar and teak woods, and diffused light. The second floor has expansive floor-to-ceiling windows and glass-and-wood-trimmed doors leading out to a wraparound deck, with the ocean as the backdrop. The great room features an oversized white pendant hanging from the vaulted, whitewashed, beamed ceiling and a floating hearth fireplace. The primary suite on the lower level has a private outdoor shower and plunge pool.
A chef’s kitchen features custom-designed wood cabinetry, Caesarstone countertops, and Sub-Zero, Wolf, Miele, and other high-end appliances. The living and dining spaces are oriented toward the coastline, which is a constant presence throughout.
A meandering path through the sand leads to the second home, a 1,500-square-foot guest house with four bedrooms, four baths, a bar, sun decks, an outdoor kitchen with a gas grill, an under-counter refrigerator, an ice maker, and a swimming pool. The house is ensconced in warm wood tones, white walls, and stainless steel.
Both houses feature bathrooms with custom ammonite stone countertops and wood sink vessels, European oak wood floors, mahogany and cedar decks with Ipe hardwood trim accents, clear cedar clapboard siding, and a Contrarian’s Invarimatte stainless steel roof system.
The 0.23-acre property boasts 200 feet of unobstructed ocean frontage and a boardwalk spanning the dunes, with direct beach access.
Located at the eastern end of Fire Island, between Fire Island Pines and Davis Park, Water Island is a very private enclave surrounded by the Great South Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, with only 48 homes.
According to the Fire Island Association, Water Island, once known for rum running during the Prohibition era, today has no commercial activities. The community, accessible by the Sayville Ferry, hosts a semi-annual art show each August.
A native of Merrick, Kors studied fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology and launched his women’s clothing label in 1981 at Bergdorf Goodman, followed by menswear lines and women’s footwear, bags, and ready-to-wear apparel. Over the years, he has dressed A-list celebrities, including Anne Hathaway, Nicole Kidman, Hillary Clinton, Kate Middleton, and Michelle Obama, who posed for her first-term official portrait as First Lady in a black sleeveless Michael Kors dress. The designer served as a judge on Bravo’s Project Runway for five seasons, and this year marked his 45th anniversary in business with a live runway show at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center.
The estate, which has annual taxes of $18,253, is listed by Meg Smith and Nathaniel Larson of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Real Estate. If it fetches its asking price – or close to it – the house will be one of the most expensive ever sold on Fire Island. By comparison, a 4-bedroom, 4-bath oceanfront home on 2 acres in Water Island sold for $2.5 million this past November.
