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Nick Churton of Mayfair International Realty discovers a story about a house in Newport, Rhode Island which supports a long-held belief. Broker: Lila Delman Real Estate International Do people buy houses or do houses buy people? After over forty years in the house selling business I realise that I have really been in the people buying business all the time. Houses buy people. They intrigue them, excite them, inspire them, calm them, reach out to them and then capture their hearts. I can give countless examples. One is the story behind a couple seeking a home in The Hamptons – the trendy and very expensive enclave on the eastern tip of Long Island, New York enjoyed by luminaries such as Sir Paul McCartney, Renee Zellweger, Steven Spielberg, Gwyneth Paltrow and gazillionaire, George Soros. Architect, designer and publisher, Richard Wurman and his wife, best selling author, Gloria Nagy, had their sights firmly set on a property in this celebrity corral when they saw an ad in a magazine for a magnificent chateaux-styled house in Newport, Rhode Island. It made them change direction. Newport, for those who don’t know the US northeastern seaboard that well, is in another State altogether and is 123 miles away by road. Newport certainly has undoubted cachet, class and pedigree but The Hamptons, to be fair, perhaps have the zeitgeist. Nevertheless, the Newport house spoke and the couple listened. Listening is something Richard Wurman knows all about. He created the celebrated TED conferences. These talks now attract a global online audience in their millions – lured by what speakers such as Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Bono, Al Gore and Richard Dawkins plus numerous Nobel Prize winners and hundreds of other notables have to say. So, heeding the siren call of the Newport house, the couple jumped in their car and the rest is family history. But now these owners are moving on. It is time. So the house is calling out once again for a special buyer who will listen to what it has to say. It speaks in a language that is not difficult to understand. This is a fabulous home. Just looking at it gives great pleasure. But believe me living in it gives even more. It simply does not need spelling out more than that. So the first lesson in real estate is, when a house speaks to you – wherever or whatever it is – listen. The second lesson is, when you think you want The Hamptons consider Newport.
