Clintons caught in summer vacation quandary

New York

FOR the past several summers, Bill and Hillary Clinton have done what New York City's moneyed residents have done for decades: they spent their vacation amid the prime beachside real estate of Long Island.

In 2011 and 2012, there was the eight-bedroom, 12,000-square-foot East Hampton rental with a heated pool that the couple took for part of August, the kind of house that typically goes for US$200,000 per month, according to local real estate listings.

Then, in 2013, they opted for an equally pricey six-bedroom mansion in Sagaponack with a private pathway to the beach. Hillary Clinton worked on her memoir, Hard Choices, from a sunny office with an ocean view.

Last year, when speculation about Hillary Clinton's presidential run reached a fever pitch, the couple chose the comparatively lower-key town of Amagansett, just up Montauk Highway from the lobster shacks and fishermen…