It’s official: Nantucket is the new Martha’s Vineyard.
The Little Rock has become even more celebrity-infested this summer than the former A-listers’ playground to the west.
Everyone from Kourtney Kardashian to Woody Allen?has been spotted on the ?island, which has traditionally been short on celebs but long on CEOs, Wall Street-ers, political heavyweights and other motley moneybags.
“I guess when a Kardashian shows up, you’ve officially jumped the shark,” joked longtime Nantucket vacationer Chris Haynes. “But there are definitely more and more celebrities coming here. That’s for sure.”
Meanwhile, the Vineyard has been rather tepid in the star-gazing department. Bruce Willis was spotted scarfing slices at Giordano’s in Oak Bluffs the other day. And the biggest cheese of all — President Obama — is still planning to spend his August hols on the island.
Thus far this summer, our Nantucket spies have spied the aforementioned Kardashian, who arrived on the island with her three kids — Mason, 6; Penelope, 4; and 19-month-old Reign — fresh from her earlier vacation the week before in the Bahamas. (Nice to be a Kardashian …)
Also, Allen and his wife, Soon-Yi; “House of Cards” cad Kevin Spacey; “11.22.63” star James Franco; Jerry Adler of “The Good Wife,”; soon-to-be “Today” show correspondent Billy Bush; Ramona Singer of “The Real Housewives of New York City”; and Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s “Hardball.”
Meryl Streep arrives on the 30th to do a benefit show for the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket.
Nantucket always has had a small, longtime celebrity contingent. Jerry Stiller and his late wife, Anne Meara, have had a home there for decades and their son, Ben Stiller, and his wife, Christine Taylor, are frequent visitors.
Kathie Lee Gifford, “Today” show hostess with the mostess,?her late hubs, Frank Gifford,?and actor John Shea also are longtime home-owners.
Designer Tommy Hilfiger sadly lost his Cliff estate in the divorce — it’s on the market now for a whopping $27 million.
“One of the things that is happening is that a lot of the old guard is dying off,” Haynes said. “So a lot of their big houses, that you could never get into, are now for rent. And celebrities are some of the only people who can afford to spend 10 grand a week to rent them.”
Eleanor Greene, who has summered on Nantucket for more than 25 years, said she thinks the annual Nantucket Film Festival put the island on Hollywood’s radar.
“Also, no one makes a big deal out of them here,” she said. “My husband and I were walking downtown and we passed Woody and Soon-Yi. They were just strolling around. No bodyguards. No big deal.”
The island also has picked it up on the restaurant front. The Galley (Beach) looks like “a gorgeous tropical island, Ibiza or something,” Haynes said.
“The Rope Walk is now home to Cru, marvelous in every way, but very expensive and all the celebrities love it.”
In fact, both Allen and Kardashian dined there during their visits.
And while Hollywood definitely has discovered Nantucket, a couple of longtime summer VIPs have made themselves scarce thus far: Secretary of State John Kerry and his wife, ketchup heiress Teresa Heinz, have spent very little time at their Hulbert Avenue estate.
The power couple was in residence — you can tell by the gang of black Secret Service SUVs lining the street — over Memorial Day and briefly over July 4th, but left early to fly back to D.C. to host the Independence Day bash for foreign ambassadors.
The Hulbert Avenue house, which is actually owned by Teresa’s sons, was listed for $25 million and word on the island is that it has already found a buyer. The couple’s yacht, the infamous Isabel, bought in 2010 for $7 million, is on the market for $4 million.
Kerry has been jetting around the globe this summer — he just met with Vladimir Putin in Russia. Apparently, he’s had little time for wind surfing. But we hear there is a Nantucket ?vacation planned next month … unless the new buyers want to be in the house before the end of the summer.
Perhaps by then Kim and Kanye will show up and the four can double date …
File Under: Island Hopping.
