The owner of a small trailer in the Hamptons has been ordered to demolish a staircase he built without permission after officials spotted photos of the home’s sales listing in a news article.
Owner Ken Hildebrandt’s home was featured in a New York Post article when it was listed for an astronomical $4.4 million in August.
But the attention backfired when eagle-eyed East Hampton Town Board safety officials noticed an attic bedroom and stairs in the Zillow photos that shouldn’t have been there, according to the photos. East Hampton Star.
The board claims the cozy-looking upstairs bedroom – with four beds – was ‘installed without a permit’.
Hildebrandt, who is in her 80s, was issued a “city code violation notice” that reported a habitable sleeping area in the attic and the addition of a full staircase.
The small trailer’s astronomical asking price was featured in an August article in the New York Post that caught the attention of the East Hampton city council
The unapproved attic bedroom
The rogue staircase that now needs to be replaced
He was given two weeks to remove the beds and replace the stairs with a fold-down attic staircase. He will then be required to submit “construction plans for the desired changes, along with an application for a certificate of occupancy issued by the city.”
In East Hampton, property owners are required to submit construction plans for review by the building department. Post-construction inspections are also conducted before a final occupancy certificate is issued.
The council recently held a hearing on a proposed change that would make the certification process even more onerous.
The home remains on the market at a multi-million dollar asking price after being reduced from $4.99 million after 100 days on the market.
The trailer is located in the ‘luxury’ trailer park of Montauk Shores, just 75 feet from the Atlantic Ocean and a popular surfing spot. Hildebrandt bought the plot in the late 1990s and has been renovating the building ever since.
It features two bedrooms and two bathrooms, excluding the attic bedroom currently under review.
There was some indication that Hildebrandt had carried out an allegedly unapproved construction. In previous articles about his housethe square footage was listed at 1,200, while the current listing says the modest home is 2,150 square feet, indicating space was added somehow.
The house is located just 23 meters from the Atlantic Ocean
The caravan park has continued to set records for home sales in recent years, with a record off-market sale in February for $3.75 million.
The property is a cut above the more traditional trailer park homes with wooden floors and modern amenities
The Montauk Shores modular home, viewed from the outside
Natural light floods the living area of the house
The house is furnished with white cabinets, making the kitchen look sleek
The exterior of the home includes a wraparound patio that leads to an outdoor shower, while the interior offers an open layout and central air.
Homes in Montauk Shore averaged $95,000 in the 1990s, but now they consistently hover around the $5 million mark.
Landlords charge about $20,000 per month for rentals.
The caravan park has continued to set records for home sales in recent years, with a record off-market sale in February for $3.75 million, surpassing the previous record of $1.85 million in 2022.
In the past, Montauk Shores has attracted a string of high-profile individuals, including country music star Jimmy Buffett, hedge fund billionaire Dan Loeb and entrepreneur Darius Bikoff, co-founder of Vitaminwater.
Buffet even became embroiled in a bidding war over a unit in 2005.
Shades of gray form one of the bedrooms in the house
The other bedroom is pictured here
The home comes complete with two bathrooms decorated in coastal colors
A swimming pool is part of the park’s facilities available for use by residents
General photos of the Montauk, Long Island trailer community, Montauk Shores Condominium. The park is located in the famous hotspot of The Hamptons, but until recently has remained a self-contained working-class community
Described as “Montauk’s best-kept secret,” the park is home to 199 units, including 152 individually owned lots and 47 leased sites.
It had always remained a self-contained working-class community – until recently, when billionaires started snapping up caravans because of its proximity to the surfing paradise of Ditch Plains.
But the trailer park community has now become an unusual status symbol for the ultra-wealthy.
The park has a communal clubhouse where residents can organize parties, a heated swimming pool and a private playground.
The community also has a recreation center, playground and basketball court.