Some clubs, however, court—or simply attract—a certain type of very rich but unsavory character. In his recent book London Falling, Patrick Radden Keefe describes the UK’s Annabel’s, one of the most exclusive private clubs in the world, as the “beating heart” and main social pipeline for a dangerous cast of chancers, fraudsters, and gangsters who mistake extreme wealth for actual power.
While it can seem like private clubs are proliferating at the rate of Blank Street coffee shops, some tony communities don’t want to be anywhere near them. Even East Hampton, one of the clubbiest places on the planet, is putting the kibosh on literal private clubs because of the clientele many of them attract.
When Scott Sartiano of Zero Bond, once the favorite hangout of Turkish Airlines–loving former NYC mayor and current Albanian citizen Eric Adams, wanted to turn East Hampton’s Hedges Inn into a private club, locals revolted over the potential disruption: idling cars, late-night noise, gangs of paparazzi. The town subsequently passed legislation banning “members-only” nightlife spots operating between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., and the Hedges instead was taken over by East Hampton summer resident and hotelier Sarah Wetenhall, who is known to go to fundraisers and events, and has been described as “truly a member of the community.” On the Upper East Side, the community board recently voted against giving Maison Estelle, another pond-crosser, a liquor license due to privacy and quality-of-life concerns; too bad for anyone hoping to grab an espresso martini on the proposed rooftop bar on 81st between Madison and Fifth.
Aside from local zoning laws, how do you keep the assholes out in the first place?
The discreet, exclusive club Fasano Fifth Avenue has one answer. It operates on a referral-only model, going on the theory that like attracts like. Presumably, that’s a good thing for a club that is happy with its existing membership.
Ricardo Santa Cruz, one of the founding partners of Xala—a $1 billion, 3,000-acre sustainable luxury community on Mexico’s Pacific coast where homes start at $6.5 million—invites every single prospective buyer to spend the night at his home in the remote Costalegre location. While almost all the buyers come through vetted referrals, there’s no better way to get to know someone than spending 24 to 48 hours with them as a houseguest. “I want to make sure these are people whose house you want your kids to go over to play with their kids,” says Santa Cruz.
Though the people who buy at Xala are, by any measure, insanely rich, Santa Cruz says they’re “not the ones talking about their new Patek Philippe watch, what they do, and how they just bought the new G7 and G5 plane.” Dana Eckert and her husband, who live in Woodside, California, bought at Xala a few years ago. Eckert says she was attracted to Xala’s focus on volunteering within the local community. (Santa Cruz says Xala, which has a closing rate of 90%, has sold 40 lots—a quarter of them to billionaires.)