Jann Wenner's a Little Bit Country

BUYERS: Jann Wenner and Matt Nye
LOCATION: Woods Road, Tivoli, NY
PRICE: $5,800,000 (listed at $6,750,000)
SIZE: 69.1 acres, 4,068 square feet (approx.), 4 bedrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Left leaning media mogul Jann Wenner (founder of Rolling Stone, Us Magazine, Men's Health) and his fashion designer man-friend Matt Nye prove that not all screamingly rich and good looking New York City homosexuals pack their non-prescription "meds" and itty bitty bikini bathing suits and head east to The Pines, the exuberantly and unapologetically capital "g" Gay ocean front mecca clinging to the sandy spit that is Fire Island.

In fact, Mister Wenner has long been a Hamptonite going way back to the late 1980s and early 1990s when he and his former wife Jane (and their three kiddies) shared a spectacular, flat roofed house on East Hampton's swanky Further Lane. After Mister Wenner went gay in the mid-1990s, he appears (but we can not confirm) to have given full use of the Further Lane property to the ex-wifey, which sits right next door to the massive ocean front estate Jerry Seinfeld bought from Billy Joel some years ago.

Several post split reports indicate the hetero turned homo leased several Hamptons houses, including one owned by big gay artist Ross Bleckner. Although Mister Wenner's name still appears on the deed records for the 11.5 acre Further Lane estate, Your Mama finds no property records that indicate Mister Wenner and Mister Nye currently own another Hamptons house. However, there are plenty of reports in the Hamptons social and gossip columns that suggest he does indeed own a Hamptons getaway. Could Jann, Matt and Jane all be shacking up together? Anyone in the Hamptons want to fill Your Mama in on this?

The somewhat scandalous coupling of the now 62 year old and still ruggedly handsome Mister Wenner and the much younger male modelesque Mister Nye was followed with great interest by all the New York City gossips. Many figured the May/December man on man romance would not last. But it has. Not only has it lasted, the gentleman have added children into the mix. Several years ago, the couple welcomed a son by surrogate to their union and they are currently "with twins," also by surrogate.

Now puppies, this ain't none of our bees wax, but Your Mama is of the mind that 62 is simply too old to be fathering children. Seventy years old and schelpping seven year old kids to karate and swim lessons? Uh, no. By the time those twins are graduating from Dalton or Choate, their dear daddy will be 80 and will prolly need to be wheeled in to the graduation ceremony in a damn wheelchair. Yes, he can provide for them financially, which is a good thing, but a man of a certain age should be having grandchildren, not children. Just my meaningless and judgmental two cents.

Anyhoo, now that the gay daddies are soon to be a family of five (not to mention the three other grown children from Mister Wenner's hetero marriage), the glammy and bespoke suited men about town have gone and bought a big spread in Tivioli, a sleepy and rural hamlet in Northern Dutchess County in upstate New York. The 69.1 acre estate, called Teviot, hangs over the mighty Hudson river and had been on the market for $6,750,000. Several reports have surfaced (including this one first forwarded to Your Mama by Molly Motormouth) regarding the purchase and the local newspaper, the Daily Freeman, reports that records filed with the county indicate Mister Wenner and Mister Nye paid $5,800,000 for the picturesque getaway which had previously been owned by the family Livingston since the 180os.

In addition to tens of acres of lawn that roll gracefully down to the Hudson, the property includes a small pond, a swimming hole/pool, a complex of red barns and a small cottage. According to listing information for the property, the main house with its wide and inviting rocking porch was built in the "European Romantic style" in 1843 and includes four bedrooms. We weren't able to assess how many terlits are up in this place, but given that it's a grand old ladee of a house we're thinking the Wenner/Nyes would be lucky to get two in it's current condition. Our guess is that the house will soon see a slew of architects with german engineered eyeglasses and a team of nice gay decorators sprinkling fairy dust and turning this lovely and genteel but aged turnip into a flaw-less diamond.

Your Mama has spent considerable time in Upstate New York and in fact, before there was a Dr. Cooter, we had a big house on a big piece of land up near Woodstock. But despite the breathtaking beauty of that Catskills and the soo-blime elegance and power of the Hudson River, we hot-footed it back to the beach after one hunting season where we too often saw burly men carrying shot guns walking on the road and too many dead deer tied up in trees ready for skinning.

Property records would indicate that Mister Wenner and Mister Nye currently inhabit the West 74th Street townhouse that Mister Wenner purchased and renovated in the aftermath of his mostly amicable split with Jane, who appears to have continued on in the West 70th Street townhouse the couple shared before Mister Wenner confessed to his wife that he likes boys better than gurls. Reports from the time of the dee-vorce indicate that Mister Wenner was likely to hang on to the Sun Valley, Idaho retreat for himself and his new man lover.

Your Mama extends a sincere hope for patience and calm in a household with three small, and more than likely very loud children. We suspect that unless the two men hire an army of nannies, they will be tied up raising babies for years to come and are unlikely to be seen at many of the glitzy charity events that take up time and money in the Hamptons and define the fall social season in New York City for an entire strata of the upper class moneyed elite.