New rich again jostle blue bloods - Americas - International Herald Tribune

New rich again jostle blue bloods - Americas - International Herald Tribune: "New rich again jostle blue bloods
By Geraldine Fabrikant The New York Times

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2005


NANTUCKET, Massachusetts In spring, along with the daffodils, crowds on the ferry and workers raking the beaches, comes the ritual of real estate gossip here. What properties changed hands over the winter? And who could possibly be paying those out-of-sight prices?

That 15-acre, or six-hectare, waterfront parcel for sale at $15 million? It was snatched up after only one day on the market. The purchaser was Steven Rales, the billionaire entrepreneur, who owns at least 61 acres next door and who bought the parcel to protect his privacy and waterfront views, said Dalton Frazier, a local real estate agent.

Have any other palatial estates expanded? Recently, H. Wayne Huizenga, the billionaire founder of Blockbuster and owner of the Miami Dolphins football team, wanted more elbow room and bought a neighboring house for $2.5 million. Richard Mellon Scaife, the publisher and heir to a banking fortune, bought an extra house too; he needed it for the staff.