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The Emptons: Estates Forsaken as Hamptonites Flee for European Shores

From Sagg Pond mansions on timers to yachts anchored off Portofino, the East End's wealthiest have found a new status symbol: not being there at all.

(Editor’s note: This column was originally published on July 23, 2013.) It was opening weekend in the Hamptons. There I was at a Memorial Day party at a stunning manse “on Goldman Pond,” as some now refer to the body of water formerly known as Sagg Pond. Now home to some of the most expensive waterfront Hamptons properties, it has become a coveted location for financial-industry types in search of deepwater docks. I was air kissing couples dressed optimistically in nautical blue and white despite the persistent rain.

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“Great to see you, Richard,” my friend’s taut wife smiled. After a brief exchange in a mist of orange-blossom fragrance, everyone was saying their thank-yous to the evening’s host and hostess, along with their goodbyes.

“See you in August,” she smiled.

“Where are you off to?”

“And you?” I questioned a lingering neighbor.

“Sardinia. It’s a family tradition,” she explained. “See you in late July.”

“See you in August,” I said to a friend.

“Have fun in Saint-Tropez!” he echoed.

“Have fun in Mykonos.” We all hugged.

“Are you out here for Thanksgiving?” a summer friend asked, walking us out of the party. “That’s the next time we’ll be here. Let’s put something on the calendar for the fall.” It was only the first weekend, and the Hamptons’ early-summer exodus had begun.

While some friends remain passionate about the surfing lessons, the $100-a-pound lobster salad (from you know where) and the purple-streaked Sagaponack sunsets, there is a distinct group of people using their Hamptons estates less and less, with no plans either to sell or rent. “Whole neighborhoods are on timers,” said a busy house watcher I ran into in the local hardware store. “At 9:15, it lights up like the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.”

As we were driving home from the party, we passed by a neighbor’s house, a recently assembled McMansion with turreted peaks and outsize turn-of-the-century demilune windows.

“Have you ever met them?” Dana asked me. I recalled popping by with a bottle of French rosé when the couple first moved in. “Yeah,” I said, “when I........

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