Summer Camp Canceled Because of Coronavirus? Not for These Wealthy Homeowners

When Camp Takajo, the famed Maine sleep-away camp, announced it wouldn’t open this summer due to Covid concerns, many parents panicked at the thought of having their children remain at home after months of lockdown. But real-estate developer Jeff Greene, who has three young sons, jumped into action. He decided to turn his 55-acre North Haven, N.Y., compound, which includes a main house and five smaller buildings, into a private outpost of the summer camp.

His first order of business was to call Takajo’s owner and arrange to hire his top staff, including the nature and wilderness counselor, arts and crafts specialist, tennis coach, and since Mr. Greene’s property sits on 3,000 feet of Sag Harbor Bay, the waterfront director.

Mr. Greene and his wife, Mei Sze, have, like most parents, enjoyed the leisure time that comes when offspring are securely tucked away at summer camp. Now, with so many camps closed, the Greenes and some other Hamptons families have transformed their homes into makeshift camps. Whether grouped with friends and neighbors or going it alone, these families have created activity schedules that will give their children structure, exercise and entertainment—and parents some downtime.

"Even though I am running a business, managing a lot of projects under construction in three states and overseeing a nonprofit institute, I don’t have the skill set to teach sports to boys who are 6, 8 and 10 and need attention from when they wake up until they fall asleep," said Mr. Greene, who added a small sailboat and a peddle kayak to his private marina, and set up a soccer field in his yard.

The property feels more rustic and camp-like than most houses on Long Island’s East End. It has a long driveway that winds through wooded areas, past a 3,000-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bathroom main house and five smaller residences. Mr. Greene, who purchased the compound in 2011 for just under $40 million, plans to replace his main house with a $20 million, 24,000-square-foot home, but the current layout works well right now.

"This is much more conducive to making a camp for my kids than the single mansions owned by some of my friends," he said. "I grew up in a lower-middle-class Massachusetts home in the shadow of the Kennedys and I always wanted a compound."

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Mr. Greene is housing the counselors on the property, and though they are supervising just three boys, he is paying them at least what they made at the Maine camp.

"Takajo has been my summer job for the last six years and my wife and I count on it," said Steve Olivas, the camp’s tennis head. "Jeff asked what my salary was there, I told him $8,000 for the season and he matched it." Carson Stevens, who was waterfront director at Takajo, and who has kayaks, canoes, a 43-foot fishing boat and Jet Skis at his disposal, is earning $600 a week. "It’s more than I made at camp," he said.

On a rainy July afternoon, the boys are inside a playroom, where a new $2,000 kiln stands ready for arts and crafts projects like making creative clay figures.

"My wife was very relieved when the counselors arrived," said Mr. Greene. "She smiled, handed the boys over and asked, `when is visiting day?’ "

At the home of Howard Sobel, a postmodern, 5,000-square-foot, five-bedroom, 5½-bathroom estate, which he built for $2.5 million in 2000 after purchasing the land for $700,000, the summer routine has also been disrupted. Usually, the cosmetic dermatologist’s sprawling lawn, which borders Mecox Bay, hosts events like a dinner party with guests such as Katie Couric and Douglas Elliman CEO Dottie Herman. But this year, the soiree has been canceled and the lawn has been co-opted by more diminutive visitors.

A trio of girls, Dr. Sobel’s 8-year-old daughter Sienna and two neighborhood friends, are gyrating their hips and hopping about as a dance instructor calls out cues. Just past a fence, Dr. Sobel’s son, 11-year-old Jake, is in a training session with a basketball coach and out front, in a more shaded area, a group of seven women, including Dr. Sobel’s wife, Brittney Sobel, are bouncing infants on their laps while Neil Levy from Little Maestros sings songs and blows bubbles on the group, to the babies’ delight.

Rather than shelling out $8,000 for their daughter’s day camp and $16,000 for their son’s stay at Racquet Lake in the Adirondacks, the couple has created their own at-home camp for themselves and a few invited friends. There were five campers on a recent July afternoon. The Sobels are footing the $100 an hour for a dance instructor and $150 an hour for a basketball coach, and each mother pays $40 a child for Mommy and Me sessions.

"The outside of the house works well because we have so many separate areas, as well as a pool and basketball court, so a lot of activities can go on at once," said Dr. Sobel.

Dr. Sobel has a Boston Whaler docked outside his home, so he built boat trips into the program. "We tool around and look at other people’s homes and I wonder why I’m not in finance," he laughed.

Despite all the effort, a certain summer camp magic seems elusive. "This is fun but at normal camp we zip line across the lake and go on waterslides," said 6-year-old Caroline Smith, whose parents live a mile from the Sobels, as she raced off to cycle with her 8-year-old sister and Sienna. The trio were then scheduled to cool off in the pool and await the Good Humor truck, set to arrive at 3 p.m.

Jake, who is perfecting his basketball moves, agreed. "This is very cool, but I miss the water sports," he said.

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The same can’t be said for the 10 children who assemble at the home of Danny Davis, a New York real-estate agent. It’s a four-bedroom, 2,650-square foot saltbox in Ditch Plains, blocks from the beach. He and his wife Lisa Verkuyl Davis purchased it in 2017 for $1.15 million and then renovated. The Davises’ have five children aged 7 to 17. With a couple of neighbors, they organized a schedule that includes instruction from Lars Mersburg of Imagine Swimming, whose hourly rate is $180 per person, and lessons from surfing gurus Leif and Ariel Engstrom, who charge $175 an hour for the first child and $99 for each additional child.

"We were uncomfortable sending our children to camp, but we trust a core group of families that have all been out here since mid-March," said Mr. Davis. "It was organic for us to do this together and we all pitch in."

On a sunny Wednesday, four boys played soccer within feet of six girls practicing yoga, with instructor, Kat Ruiz. But the highlight of the day was surfing.

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"This is 110% better than camp because we are in the water and with our friends," said Michael Gath, 13.

"In regular camp we do boring stuff like make bracelets, but here we are surfing!" said 10-year-old Simon Dellaert.

Glenn Raff had launched a children’s fitness business called Hoplite Club in January for home visits, and studio and streaming classes. Mr. Raff decided to operate a small camp at his Shelter Island home instead once Covid struck. He added a $1,000 fire pit for s’mores to the ranch home he and his wife Haleigh Raff purchased in 2014 for $975,000, and spent another $1,000 on pool supplies including a basketball net. The large backyard worked well for games and relay races, and they set up a beading station for making jewelry.

"We used everything we had in our toolbox,’’ said Mr. Raff, who enlisted the family dog to act as a one-animal petting zoo. For staff, the Raffs brought on Matt Scheff, former director of operations and programming at Camp Laurel in Maine, and hired a local college student, Julia Labrozzi, at $15 an hour, to assist and make sure children were appropriately distanced. They had an average of eight children at a time during their two-week camp this June, and charged $200 for each participant.

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"These children had been separated from others for months, so they were worried and socialization was more difficult,’’ said Mrs. Raff. "They kept asking when they needed masks and when they were allowed to take them off. One was afraid to go into the house to use the bathroom. It was great to see kids being kids again, but it was a lot to do well and make sure everyone was safe.’’