South O' the Highway (and the North too)

A Southampton home looks to set a new record for price per acre in the Hamptons. The Oceanfront Gin Lane estate, once the home of Oscar-wining Chicago producer Marty Richards and his late wife, Johnson & Johnson heiress Mary Lea Johnson, stands on six acres with a 13,200-square-foot main residence, a seaside pool, tennis court and gardens. Though it's probably worth every penny at $65 million, or $10.8 million per acre, that would be a record-breaking lot of pennies, shelled out by an unnamed European businessman.

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By now, everyone's seen Long Island native Lindsay Lohan's blunt, nude Marilyn Monroe-inspired New York Magazine photographs taken by Sag Harbor's Bert Stern. While mildly controversial and arguably disappointing, the photos still turned heads, garnering www.nymag.com over 75 million page views in four days and making "lindsay lohan new york magazine" Google's second most popular search.

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The Southampton Inn on Hill Street has big plans to up its facilities. The Inn's proprietor Dede Gotthelf has been working with architects, designers and builders recently to re-open a more grandiose Inn come summer. She's also upped the food, stealing Sag Harbor's American Hotel chef Peter Dunlop.

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At Southampton mainstay The Driver's Seat Irma Herzog has been doing a little renovating as well, and hungry customers can expect some small changes from the Jobs Lane eatery come summer.

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The Parrish Art Museum will host its annual Spring Fling March 8. The night at the museum will include dancing, an open bar, and a silent auction. Tickets run from $100 to $175.

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The art world was whirling with money and Hamptonites last week in Manhattan at The Tribeca Ball to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the New York Academy of Art, where Sag Harbor artist Erich Fischl and socialite Beth Ostrosky helped raise over $350,000 for scholarships. But this was chump change compared to the money exchanged at Sotheby's recent contemporary art auction of 82 pieces. All proceeds went to relief programs in Africa run by the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS. Christy Turlington and Russell Simmons were amongst the crowd of celebrities who bid on works, including pieces by Hamptons artists Chuck Close and Julian Schnabel.

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Tyra Banks has been hanging out in the Hamptons more and more lately, and a new man in her life seems to be the reason. Banks is currently dating investment banker John Utendahl, who owns a home on Pheasant Road in Quogue. If the happy couple makes it through the summer, Banks could join the other media mavens dubbed Hamptonites.

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The American Cancer Society honored Cynthia Lufkin, philanthropist and wife of financier Dan Lufkin, as "Mother of the Year" at a luncheon held at The Plaza on February 26. Lufkin follows previous award winners Katie Couric, Vera Wang, Paula Zahn and Carolina Herrera. Hamptons regulars including Wendy Carduner, Grace Hightower, Muffie Potter Aston, Marianne Cuomo Castle, Somers Farkas, Dayle Haddon, Rachel Hovanian and Karen LeFrak served as the benefit's co-chairs while Jennifer Creel, Dayssi Orlete DeKanavos, Nicole Miller and Evelyn Lauder were among those that attended the annual event to support Cynthia.

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