The house that Snapple built heads to auction with opening bids way below its $15M price

The Hewlett Bay Park waterfront estate built by Snapple co-founder Hyman Golden has stayed in the family for more than 30 years

In 1994, Hyman Golden cashed in on Snapple. That year, the Queens-raised former window washer and his two partners sold the iced tea company that they started with a few thousand bucks to Quaker Oats for $1.7 billion.

That same year, Golden built his dream home on the water in Hewlett Bay Park. More than three decades later, his family is letting it go.

Bidding on the waterfront estate, known for years around the Five Towns as the “Snapple House,” opens Nov. 6. The final bids will be placed inside a luxury hotel in London.

The home is listed for $15 million. Opening bids, however, are expected to land between $3.5 million and $5 million. That leaves a lot of space for someone to perhaps land a great deal, or maybe be fertile ground for a bidding war.

The sale ends Nov. 20 at The Connaught in London’s Mayfair district, as part of the two-day London Global Sale run by Concierge Auctions. The auction is being held in cooperation with Golden’s grandson Richard, Shawn Elliott and Zach Elliott of Nest Seekers International.

Hyman Golden co-founded the company in 1972 with his brother-in-law Leonard Marsh and their childhood friend Arnold Greenberg. It initially sold natural fruit juices to health food stores, and for many years it was based just up the road in Valley Stream.

Golden, who served as Snapple’s chairman, died in 2008 at 85.

“My grandfather had an idea for how a family should live and gather and every room, every detail reflects that,” Richard Golden said. “Passing it on to a new owner isn’t something we take lightly.”

The house counts five bedrooms, five full bathrooms and three half bathrooms, with most of the main living spaces facing the harbor.

There is an eat-in kitchen with stone counters and a breakfast bar. The entertaining wing has a bar and a temperature-controlled wine cellar and the primary suite boasts water views, two walk-in closets and a spa bath with a soaking tub and a sauna.

Outside, manicured lawns and formal gardens run down to 240 feet of water frontage and a private dock. The pool has a cabana with a full kitchen, changing rooms, a bathroom and a second sauna. The property also has a four-car garage.

Elliott said the waterfront is what sets the estate apart. No other residence in the area has full views of Macy Channel, he said.

Through Concierge Auctions’ Key For Key giving program with Giveback Homes, the closing will help fund new homes for families in need, organizers said.

_{Top: Top: Josh Goetz Photography}

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