Don't believe anyone who tells you the Hamptons are quiet in the winter months. It's just the opposite with the Type-A personalities who people the East End. Big mansions are going up on the block and just as quickly being snapped up - at astronomical prices, books are being touted, scoops are being gobbled up by world-class journos, fabulous fetes are being planned, and as always there's a scandal or two.

In the last few weeks, we've had the confession of a prominent real estate broker to charges of kiddie porn, threats of a plagiarism suit against Jessica Seinfeld, and a firestorm of national proportions over a pair of columns in one of the East End weeklies. Oy vey!

George Stephanopoulos and wife-actress Ali Wentworth Photo by PatrickMcMullan.com

Meanwhile, the wheels and deals keep rolling along with some of the most prestigious being sold or put on the market sometimes for a little lower then hoped for. Publisher Richard Ekstract and his wife, Eileen, have lowered the price of their eight-bedroom, 7,500-square-foot Bridgehampton mansion on 3.7 gated acres to $15 million. It first went on the market last fall for $18 million.

Designed by a team that included architect Hugh Huddleson and designer Robert Stilin, the high-tech, traditional residence includes a massive kitchen with all the bells and whistles a four-star chef could ask for, ten bathrooms, and advanced technology that includes radiant heat and a geothermal HVAC system.

The expansive master suite includes a private media room, sitting room, and dressing room. The finished lower level houses the staff quarters (Do people still have live-in servants?), two full bathrooms, and recreational areas. Outside, the covered portico with fireplace overlooks the oversized 40-foot-by-40-foot pool and beautifully manicured grounds. Sound good? Then call my pal Gary DePersia of the Corcoran Group.

Political correspondent and ABC host George Stephanopoulos and wife-actress Ali Wentworth have sold their East Hampton summer home on Clover Leaf Lane. The four-bedroom, four-bathroom, shingled house went for a reported $2.5 million. In December 2005, ABC News officially named Stephanopoulos its chief D.C. correspondent, and friends say the weekend commute was getting a little wearing on the fun couple. Good pal Holly Peterson tossed Ali a celeb studded bash to celebrate her new show "Head Case" on Starz. Holly's daddy, Pete Peterson, and step-mom Joan Ganz Cooney, were on hand for family support for the hostess, whose guests included Barbara Walters, Kayce Freed Jennings, Jessica Seinfeld, Linda Wells, and lots of other Hamptons neighbors.

Another fabulous and quite historic spread is up for grabs, "Westerly," the former Wanamaker estate profiled so beautifully in Gary Lawrance's marvelous tome, "House of the Hamptons", co-authored with Anne Surchin, which hit the bookstores this summer. Most recently owned by the late Howard Gittis, the right-hand man of takeover artist Ronald Perelman, the brick Georgian Revival mansion comes with a $59 million price tag - cough, cough – but that includes a pool, tennis court and a ballroom. Get out my tiara Harry Winston and call Neil Lane for some serious bling, I'm ready to party.

Before I forget, at the Peterson party I learned that Barbara Walters will anchor the ABC News special "The Royal Family," scheduled to air Mar. 3 at 8 p.m. The special is built around a documentary ABC acquired from RDF USA, which assigned camera crews to follow the British monarchy for more than a year. ABC's telecast promises never-seen footage of life inside Britain's royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William, and Prince Harry. Camera crews followed the family to private and public settings, and had unprecedented access to the family. Maybe this will take the sting out of Babs losing her pre-Oscar special as a result of the writers strike.

Great stories and great storytellers will be honored at the McDonald's sponsored Broadcast Legends blast at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem this weekend. Hats off to Mickey D's for singling out a number of the Metro Area's most loved and respected minority journalists. Taking their bows this weekend are my BFF Rolonda Watts who's now gone Hollywood, and a passel of our Hamptons friends, including Maurice Dubois, Lynne White, Pat Battle, Soledad O'Brien, and Lori Stokes, along with Marian Etoile Watson Greg Gumble and more. Dana Tyler will emcee the event.

Bellport's most famed movie star Isabella Rossellini, she of the gorgeous skin I cold kill for, has signed on with the Italian Trade Commission as the spokeswoman for their "Made in Italy" campaign - with her usual self-mocking fashion in noting that she was "made in Italy" when her mother Ingrid Bergman has a world headline grabbing affair with Roberto Rossellini. "Let yourself be charmed by an Italian" is the catchphrase for the new campaign promoting Italian fashion.

I could think of no one more charming for this project than Isabella whom I met at the Great Chefs Dinner for the Hayground School, and later in the summer at the LIGALY Sunday by the Bay Benefit. On both occasions, she was positively glowing and warm to all who approached. This lady is no ice goddess.

More good news about our neighbors. Author/artist/critic and all around swell John Gruen will see his memoir published in April. Titled "Callas Kissed Me…Lenny Too!" (the Lenny being Leonard Bernstein), it's a no-holds barred peek at his many dalliances with the famous – including Lenny and Rudolf Nureyev, that still did not wreck his now over five decades long marriage to famed East End artist Jane Wilson. John and Jane knew everyone. Thankfully many have already gone on to their reward as John is brutally frank.

The Kuczynski-Stevenson household is infanticipating! Alex Kuczynski and husband Charles Stevenson are expecting a baby in April. Sassy Alex, who penned the wildly successful "Beauty Junkies" last year while toiling away at The New York Times, is ready to give up her blond bombshell look for a more motherly one. I hear Charles, who has five children from previous marriages, is thrilled and very pleased as Alex has turned into the stepmother from heaven for his kids who adore her.

More news from the Nursery - Jann Wenner and Matt Nye are expanding on all fronts. The Rolling Stone publisher and the designer are East Hampton regulars who just became daddies to twins (who'll join their one-year-old son, Noah) via surrogate. Wenner also told friends he just bought the historic 65-acre "Teviot" estate in Tivoli, NY, the ancestral Livingston manse, with a lawn that rolls down to the Hudson River for $5.8 million. He'll preserve the 4,000-square-foot European Romantic style jewel, built in 1843.

Cheers to all! For me, it's off to the catwalks of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Bryant Park in New York City. I'll have all the dish and more for you next week.