Gwyneth Paltrow and her husband, musician Chris Martin, have been excoriated in the Hamptons recently for erecting a formidable fence around the 7,000-square-foot Amagansett house she bought last year for over $5 million. But the actress apparently is a softy, at least when it comes to her employees. Word is she rented a separate house for them (not unheard of, but hardly common practice among celebrities in the area) and it’s costing her a little more than $20,000 a month. Her broker, Gene Stilwell of the Corcoran Group, refused to comment.

Back in the city, commercial real-estate bigwig Bob Knakal (of the brokerage firm Massey Knakal) has sold the three-bedroom co-op near Sutton Place that he shares with his wife, Terri, for $1.68 million. No word on whether he paid himself the commission.

Related:

• Archive: “Real Estate”
• Articles by S.Jhoanna Robledo
• Table of Contents: August 27, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!