Diane Sawyer is hoping to make a $19 million profit on her Martha’s Vineyard estate, dubbed “Chip Chop,” when she put the beautiful property on the market.
The 77-year-old actress has listed the 20-acre beachfront estate, which includes several homes and two private beaches, for $24 million.
Sawyer bought the estate with her late husband, legendary director Mike Nichols, for $5.3 million in 1995. The couple married in 1988 and Nichols died in 2014.
Sawyer and Nichols were married on Martha’s Vineyard and bought the property several years later.
Chip Chop was designed in 1937 by Eric Gugler for Katharine Cornell, the actress known as the “First Lady of Theater,” but the property wasn’t finished until 1945.
Diane Sawyer hopes to make a $19 million profit on her Martha’s Vineyard estate dubbed ‘Chip Chop’
The actress, 77, has listed the 20-acre beachfront estate, which includes several homes and two private beaches, for $24 million
Sawyer bought the estate with her late husband, legendary director Mike Nichols, for $5.3 million in 1995
The property features a swimming pool, tennis courts, pool deck with beautiful ocean views and secluded gardens with undulating lawns.
Sawyer bought the estate with her late husband, legendary director Mike Nichols, for $5.3 million in 1995
Today it features a swimming pool, tennis courts, a pool deck with sweeping ocean views, and secluded gardens with undulating lawns.
“Mike fell in love with the Vineyard in the ’60s and always remembered the day he visited Katharine Cornell at her house,” Sawyer told the Wall Street Journal.
He said it was the most beautiful house he had ever seen and described the gleaming wood of the great room with its enormous sliding doors.
He remembered the path winding across the dune to the beach as an invitation to a perfect day. It always captured his imagination.’
The 5,000-square-foot main house has three bedrooms and, oddly, ten chimneys.
Chip Chop was designed in 1937 by Eric Gugler for Katharine Cornell, the actress known as the “First Lady of Theater,” but the property wasn’t finished until 1945
There is also a two bedroom cottage for the staff and two beach cottages known as The Shacks
The property features a luxurious pool deck with ocean views
The property has tennis courts, a pool deck with beautiful ocean views, and secluded gardens with undulating lawns
Nichols led a renovation of the property after it was purchased with Sawyer
Sawyer bought the estate with her late husband, legendary director Mike Nichols, for $5.3 million in 1995
There is also a two bedroom cottage for the staff and two beach cottages known as The Shacks.
Notary Public Mark Jenkins, of Wallace & Co. Sotheby’s International Realty, said the beach huts earned their nickname after replacing fishing huts.
A 2006 book, “Vineyard Confidential: 350 Years of Scandals, Eccentrics, and Strange Occurrences,” detailed how many of her rich and famous guests—including Sir Laurence Olivier and James Cagney—during Cornell’s ownership of the property “like to dun-dive into her pool’.
“To increase their privacy, the actress had the kitchen windows removed to prevent staff from peeking into…Sir Laurence’s bare buttocks,” Holly Nadler wrote.
Nichols led a renovation of the property after it was purchased with Sawyer.
The 5,000-square-foot main house has three bedrooms and, oddly, ten chimneys
Sawyer bought the estate with her late husband, legendary director Mike Nichols, for $5.3 million in 1995
The property has two private stretches of beach and is listed for $24 million
Sawyer bought the estate with her late husband, legendary director Mike Nichols, for $5.3 million in 1995
The property has two private stretches of beach and is listed for $24 million
Martha’s Vineyard has a long history as a millionaire’s hideout, with current and former residents including the Obamas, Michael J. Fox and Spike Lee
Sawyer added, “Five grandchildren have run through the halls, learned to swim in the warm water, collected moss in the woods.
“During Thanksgiving, both huge fireplaces in the great room give off warmth and golden light. We have always felt so lucky to be together in this magical place.’
She sells the property because ‘there is less free time for long visits to the island’ and ‘the rhythm of summer has changed’.
Martha’s Vineyard has a long history as a millionaire’s hideout, with current and former residents including the Obamas, Michael J. Fox, and Spike Lee.
Tragedy struck on the Obamas’ property in July when their family chief, Tafari Campbell, 45, died while paddle boarding in Edgartown Great Pond.