Spark Realty Spotlight: Martha Gundersen, A Career Built on the East End’s Most Coveted Addresses

Douglas Elliman

Martha Gundersen has spent over 25 years in a market where time runs with the seasons, privacy holds value, and a front door can be worth more than a Midtown tower. In the Hamptons, where listings are managed with the same care as reputations, she has created a career based on her deep knowledge of the area and her skill in navigating deals. These deals can hinge on a setback line, a permit, a view corridor, or the urgency of a buyer keen to secure a summer home before the season changes.

With more than 25 years in the Hamptons luxury market, her sales have topped $3 billion, making her one of the region’s most active brokers. Her recent achievements have solidified her standing. At the 2024 Douglas Elliman Ellie Awards, she placed second in the Hamptons for gross commission income and total volume. In 2025, she and partner Paul Brennan represented the buyer in a $70 million oceanfront sale at 370 and 372 Further Lane, a notable deal on Amagansett’s waterfront. She followed that with more oceanfront closings in 2025, including 125 Midocean Drive in Bridgehampton for $57 million and 271 Marine Boulevard in Amagansett for $14.75 million.

In 2024, Ms. Gundersen represented a James Michael Howard-designed estate at 9 Hither Lane in East Hampton Village, which closed for $24,950,000. Another deal that year, 253 Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton, sold for $19.2 million and ranked among The Real Deal’s top ten Hamptons residential sales. She gained recognition for setting a record in Amagansett North with the highest non-waterfront sale in that area.

Her colleagues highlight her advantage in having not just access to buyers but also a strong grasp of the East End’s details—local zoning laws, architectural limits, and the unwritten rules that influence how deals progress from interest to contract to closing. In a region where properties often reflect the quirks of their owners, her business has involved signature estates, historical homes, and waterfront properties, serving a clientele that is both wealthy and international, often coming through referrals earned over years of quiet trust.

8 & 10 On the Blf, Sag Harbor is available for $29M. Courtesy of Douglas Elliman

That discretion pairs well with her tolerance for complexity. Many transactions in the Hamptons focus less on a single price and more on timing, conditions, and contingencies: seasonal use, renovation plans, approvals, and what a buyer can change alongside what the location forbids. Ms. Gundersen has embraced these nuances, using her experience to bridge the gap between the allure of a home and the practicalities that govern it.

A long-time Amagansett resident, she lives with her husband and two rescue dogs. Her son, a UCLA graduate, works with her in real estate, concentrating on sales, zoning, and marketing. Her daughter, a Cornell alumna, recently finished her final year at CW Post Veterinary School. Outside of work, Ms. Gundersen supports various charitable organizations, including the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, the World Wildlife Fund, Childreach, Women for Women International, the American Cancer Society, No Dogs Left Behind, and the Glaucoma Research Institute.

When she isn’t working with clients, she swims, walks her dogs on Indian Wells Beach, and captures photographs of the landscape that first attracted her in 1980. This mix of natural beauty and cultivated privacy continues to shape the Hamptons as a place where, for those who can afford it, a home remains both a refuge and a statement.