The Hamptons on Less Than a Dollar a Day

Wednesday, September 28, 2005



The Hamptons really are cheaper in the off-season.

At least one couple in the pricey resort area at the eastern end of New York's Long Island has taken that maxim to an extreme, reports the New York Post.

A local homeowner came home at sunset Sept. 19 to catch a man and woman having sex on his property — and then discovered they'd been living for free in his house.

They "were having sex in the garden, on the lawn, behind some bushes," the man, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the Post.

As many year-round residents do, the man had rented out his house for the summer to upscale city dwellers willing to pay the price — in this case, $2,000 a week or $30,000 for the entire season for a three-bedroom ranch house a short walk from the beach in the village of Amagansett (search).

But he made the mistake of letting some time elapse between his tenants' departure and his return, and that's when the freeloaders apparently stepped in.

The couple, both blond and in their 30s, told the homeowner they'd been staying next door and had just taken a dip in the neighbors' pool.

The pair then pulled on shorts and T-shirts, got on a bicycle and rode away.

"I kicked them off the property," he said. "They were the most lackadaisical people I had ever met. Bohemian. They just casually sauntered off."

But when the homeowner walked into his home, he found the back sliding door ajar, cigarette butts on the deck, the makings of a salad in the kitchen and the clothes dryer running.

"They left in shorts," he laughed. "I've still got their wardrobe."

In fact, his wasn't the only house they'd used. They'd been hanging out in the neighbors' as well — but in both instances had brought their own food, not taken anything and, perhaps most important to owners of rental properties, not smoked indoors.

"I wish I could retroactively charge them," the man chuckled. "They had a nice week in the Hamptons, for free."