What $49 million can buy you

Updated June 15

A coastal compound in Edgartown with sweeping views and a cluster of parcels for possible multigenerational living is making waves in the real estate industry this week, and if it goes for  asking price, another real estate record for the state would be set by the Vineyard.

The property is named Great Point and located off 15 Forever Wild Way, facing the south coast of the Island in Edgartown. The 8,994-square-foot property has 12 bedrooms on a 31.59-acre lot near Edgartown Great Pond, and is for sale at $49 million. 

Properties at the highest end of the market on Martha’s Vineyard are continuing to draw global interest, according to real estate experts, a reality that defies the risks of Island living at a time of rising ocean levels, steady coastal erosion, and a recent rash of tick-borne conditions. 

Residential properties on the Island are regularly sold for millions of dollars, but several sales over the years exceeding $30 million attract attention. A mansion in Katama said to be inspired by “The Great Gatsby” set a residential property record on the Vineyard after being sold for $37.5 million in November. A property at 18 Point Inner Way in Chilmark is now listed for $45 million and is the site of the infamous house featured in the “One Big Home” documentary, considered a driving force behind Chilmark’s controversial “Big House Bylaw,” which limits a house’s size depending on the parcel’s size. 

The Great Point property was officially listed on June 2 by MGS Group Real Estate, a firm with offices in Boston and Wellesley. According to the listing, the property is located within Herring Creek Farm and has access to over 2,500 feet of private shoreline and a “private walking path to the South Shore’s miles of unspoiled sandy beaches.” The listing also touts the natural landscape and residences that were recently completed, with the potential to “create up to three additional homes and complementary structures.” 

The Wall Street Journal first reported and The MV Times has confirmed that the seller is Michael Bronner, a Boston tech entrepreneur and investor who built the property over several years.

Maggie Gold Seelig, the MGS agent overseeing the listing, said the property consists of five parcels that were strategically assembled to give the buyer options on how to use the land, whether that be developing homes for families or leaving a portion as open space. 

As a part of Herring Creek Farm, the property also neighbors homes owned by high-profile individuals like David Letterman. It’s also near Katama Airpark for those who come by small plane.

Real estate industry insiders say it is an old trick to put a property at a very high listing price to draw global attention to the market. And if that was the intention, it seems to be working, as the news has spread far and wide about this property. Seelig said that considering the possibility of changing the parcels, she considered it an “accurate price.”  

But Tom Wallace, the principal broker of Wallace & Co. Sotheby’s International Realty, which has been marketing and selling properties — including the Point Inner Way property — at the highest price points for nearly a half a century, said the market is reflecting a solid trend in the billionaire class.

“This property reflects a movement toward a desire for not just a home, but a family compound. And it is an appetite for this kind of property that is ever increasing, and very appealing,” said Wallace.

Real estate agents at the high end of the market are aware of the many news stories highlighting concerns about ticks, including a recent feature on CNN, a piece on the front page of the Boston Globe, and a particularly shrill report in the Daily Mail in the U.K. 

When asked about this, Wallace calmly replied, “The Vineyard has always been a place that has erosion, oceans rising, and tick issues that date back to the surge of Lyme disease that goes back decades. But it seems the desire to be here continues to win out over those concerns.”

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story referred to the documentary as infamous when this word was meant to describe a house featured in the film.