Grey Gardens (estate)

Last updated

Grey Gardens
Grey Gardens (2009).jpg
Grey Gardens in January of 2009
Grey Gardens (estate)
General information
Architectural style Shingle style
Location East Hampton, New York
Coordinates 40°56′15″N72°12′58″W / 40.9376°N 72.216144°W / 40.9376; -72.216144
Completed1897
Owner Liz Lange
Governing bodyPrivate
Design and construction
Architect(s)Joseph Greenleaf Thorp

Grey Gardens is a 14-room [1] house at 3 West End Road and Lily Pond Lane in the Georgica Pond neighborhood of East Hampton, New York. It was the residence of the Beale family from 1924 to 1979, including mother and daughter Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale from 1952 to 1977. The 1975 documentary Grey Gardens depicted the two living in squalor in the mansion; the highly regarded film [2] spawned a 2006 Broadway musical, a 2009 television movie, and other adaptations.

Contents

The house dates from 1897, and was designed by Joseph Greenleaf Thorp. Other owners included Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn, who lived in the house from 1979 to 2014, and extensively restored it after moving in. As of 2017 it is owned by fashion designer and entrepreneur Liz Lange.

Design and early ownership

In 1895, 4 acres (16,000 m2) of oceanfront land was bought by F. Stanhope Phillips and Margaret Bagg Phillips, daughter of John S. Bagg, who had acquired the Detroit Free Press in 1836. The Phillipses paid $2,500 (equivalent to $88,000in 2022) from the estate of a Mr. Candy. The couple announced their plans to build a $100,000 (equivalent to $3,518,000in 2022) house on the property. However, the purchase hit a snag when it was revealed that the property had been bequeathed to the U.S. government. [3]

In 1897, Joseph Greenleaf Thorp (1862–1934) designed the house. [4] Thorpe had designed several other houses in East Hampton. However, the house was not immediately built. Stanhope Phillips died in 1901, leaving behind an estate valued at $250,000 (equivalent to $8,794,000in 2022). His brother challenged Margaret for control of the estate, saying she had used undue influence on him and that she had cremated him so that an autopsy could not be performed to confirm this. The court sided with Margaret. [5] After the ownership issues were settled, construction on the house started.

In 1913, Robert C. Hill, president of Consolidation Coal Company, bought the house. Hill's wife Anna Gilman Hill (1875–1955) imported ornate concrete walls from Spain to enclose the garden and hired landscape designer Ruth Bramley to create what would become the core of Grey Gardens. Bramley was married at the time to architect Aymar Embury II and their offices were in the same building. [1]

Beale ownership

Grey Gardens, c.1916 "Gray Gardens," Robert Carmer Hill house, Lily Pond Lane, East Hampton, New York. Pathway to sun room.jpg
Grey Gardens, c.1916

In 1924, Phelan Beale acquired the estate for his wife Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale. [6] Phelan was a law partner of John Vernou Bouvier Jr. and had married Bouvier's daughter, Edith. Bouvier owned an estate in East Hampton, located three miles north on Further Lane at Lasata where his granddaughter Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was a frequent visitor.

After an extended marital separation, Phelan Beale notified Edith of their divorce around 1946 by telegram from Mexico. Phelan provided Edith with an allowance of $300 (equivalent to $5,000in 2022) per month to maintain the property, herself and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale, who was commonly known as "Little" Edie. Phelan's financial support eventually ceased and the two Ediths lost contact with him. The house and garden fell into disrepair and were overtaken by nature due to the lack of funds. The two women continued to inhabit the house, where they kept a large number of feral cats and wild animals.

In 1972, the Suffolk County, New York Health Commission issued a notice of eviction, stating the Beales would be unable to live in the house until it was cleaned and basic utilities restored. The news of the order and of the squalor in which the two women lived received international attention because "Big" and "Little" Edie were the aunt and first cousin, respectively, of Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of former US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and wife of Aristotle Onassis.

Jacqueline and her sister, Lee Radziwill, donated money to make the house habitable and return it to a standard which would allow for the rescission of the eviction order.

That same year Radziwill asked brothers Albert and David Maysles to create a film, including interviews with the Edies, which would document the Bouvier family's visits to East Hampton during Lee's and Jacqueline's youth. The project was ultimately canceled and the Maysles turned their attention to the Beales, resulting in the 1975 documentary Grey Gardens . After the release of the film, Edith and Little Edie continued to reside in the house. Edith died in 1977 and Little Edie remained until she sold the property.

The original 1972 footage featuring Radziwill visiting the Beales was released in 2017 as That Summer . [7]

Post-Beale ownership

In 1979, Little Edie sold Grey Gardens to Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn for $220,000 (equivalent to $887,000in 2022) with the stipulation that they were not to tear down the house. [6] Little Edie reportedly told the couple, "all it needs is a coat of paint!" [8] Quinn later recalled that the dilapidated house "was worse than the movie," and was filled with waste from 52 feral cats. [8] In his 1995 memoir, Bradlee wrote "In all my life, including years reporting about slums from Washington to Casablanca, I have never seen a house in such dreadful condition: attics full of raccoons and their droppings, toilets stopped up, a kitchen stove that had fallen into the cellar, a living room with literally half a floor... ...Whole rooms had been abandoned when they filled up with garbage, as the Beales moved to the next room." [9]

Bradlee and Quinn restored the home, which would be featured in several architectural and home décor magazines. [8] In February 2017, a widowed Quinn put the house up for sale with an asking price of $19,995,000. [10] The Beale-owned furniture, along with household items owned by Quinn, were auctioned off in an estate sale held from November 17–19, 2017. [11] On December 20, 2017, the house sold for $15.5 million to American fashion designer Liz Lange. [12] Lange has since overseen a complete restoration of the home and its surrounding gardens by decorator Mark D. Sikes. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Lee Bouvier</span> American socialite

Janet Norton Lee Auchincloss, previously Bouvier, was an American socialite. She was the mother of the former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Lee Radziwill.

<i>Grey Gardens</i> 1975 documentary film by David Maysles, Albert Maysles

Grey Gardens is a 1975 American documentary film by Albert and David Maysles. The film depicts the everyday lives of two reclusive, upper-class women, a mother and daughter both named Edith Beale, who lived in poverty at Grey Gardens, a derelict mansion at 3 West End Road in the wealthy Georgica Pond neighborhood of East Hampton, New York. The film was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival but was not entered into the main competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edith Bouvier Beale</span> American socialite and cabaret performer

Edith Bouvier Beale, nicknamed Little Edie, was an American socialite, fashion model, and cabaret performer. She was a first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Bouvier Radziwill. She is best known for her participation in the 1975 documentary film, Grey Gardens, by Albert and David Maysles,.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Radziwill</span> American socialite and sister of Jackie Kennedy Onassis

Caroline Lee Bouvier, later Canfield, Radziwiłł, and Ross, was an American socialite, public relations executive, and interior decorator. She was the younger sister of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and sister-in-law of President John F. Kennedy. Radziwill was married three times, each marriage ending in divorce.

Douglas Wright is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play in 2004 for his play I Am My Own Wife. He also wrote the books to the Broadway musicals Grey Gardens in 2006, The Little Mermaid in 2007, Hands on a Hard Body in 2012, and War Paint in 2017. His play Good Night, Oscar made its Broadway debut in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Quinn</span> American journalist

Sally Sterling Quinn is an American author and journalist, who writes about religion for a blog at The Washington Post.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Vernou Bouvier III</span> American Wall Street stockbroker

John Vernou "Black Jack" Bouvier III was an American Wall Street stockbroker and socialite. He was the father of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and of socialite Princess Lee Radziwill, and was the father-in-law of John F. Kennedy.

<i>Grey Gardens</i> (musical) Musical

Grey Gardens is a musical with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie, produced in 2006 and based on the 1975 documentary of the same title about the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale by Albert and David Maysles. The Beales were Jacqueline Kennedy's aunt and cousin, respectively. Set at Grey Gardens, the Bouviers' mansion in East Hampton, New York, the musical tracks the progression of the two women's lives from their original status as rich and socially polished aristocrats to their eventual largely isolated existence in a home overrun by cats and cited for repeated health code violations. However, its more central purpose is to untangle the complicated dynamics of their dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale</span> American socialite and singer

Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale was an American socialite and singer known for her reclusive and eccentric lifestyle. Known as Big Edie, she was a sister of John Vernou Bouvier III and an aunt of Jacqueline Onassis. Her life and relationship with her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale was highlighted in the 1975 documentary Grey Gardens.

Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery is a cemetery in East Hampton, New York, that is the burial ground for the paternal ancestors and relatives of First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lasata</span> Estate in East Hampton, New York, United States

Lasata is an estate in East Hampton, New York, that was the childhood summer home of the then future First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis until she was about 12.

<i>The Beales of Grey Gardens</i> 2006 documentary film

The Beales of Grey Gardens is a documentary film by Albert Maysles, David Maysles and Ian Markiewicz, released in 2006.

<i>Grey Gardens</i> (2009 film) 2009 HBO film directed by Michael Sucsy

Grey Gardens is a 2009 American biographical drama television film about the lives of Edith Bouvier Beale/"Little Edie", played by Drew Barrymore, and her mother Edith Ewing Bouvier/"Big Edie", played by Jessica Lange. Co-stars include Jeanne Tripplehorn as Jacqueline Kennedy and Ken Howard as Phelan Beale. The film, directed by Michael Sucsy and co-written by Sucsy and Patricia Rozema, flashes back and forth between various events and dates ranging from Little Edie as a young débutante in 1936 moving with her mother to their Grey Gardens estate through the filming and premiere of the actual 1975 documentary Grey Gardens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phelan Beale</span> American lawyer

Phelan Beale was an American attorney and sportsman in New York City who was married to Edith Ewing Bouvier, an aunt of former First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Beale is probably best remembered as the absent father chronicled in the Grey Gardens saga portrayed in a 1975 movie documentary, 2006 Broadway musical, and 2009 HBO film, all of which were named for his home in East Hampton, New York.

Phelan Beale Jr. was an American journalist and unemployment compensation law expert. He was a son of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and a brother of Edith Bouvier Beale whose lives were highlighted in the documentary Grey Gardens. He was a first cousin of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Lee Radziwill.

Bouvier Beale was a prominent American lawyer. Beale was one of the sons of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and was also a brother of Edith Bouvier Beale, whose lives were highlighted in the documentary Grey Gardens. Beale was a first cousin of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Lee Radziwill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dennis Phelan</span> American judge

John Dennis Phelan was an American editor, politician and jurist. He served as Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives.

Lois Erdmann Wright was an American artist, author, and television personality. She was best known for her appearance in the 1975 independent documentary film Grey Gardens by Albert and David Maysles. She was the author of the memoir My Life at Grey Gardens: 13 Months and Beyond. She hosted The Lois Wright Show for LTV Public Access in East Hampton for over 30 years; broadcasting her final show on December 19, 2018. As an artist, she exhibited at Guild Hall in East Hampton and at the National Arts Club in New York. Her art focused mainly on Edith Bouvier Beale and Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale of Grey Gardens.

Jerry “The Marble Faun” Torre is an American sculptor. He is best known for his appearance in the 1975 independent documentary films Grey Gardens and The Beales of Grey Gardens by Albert and David Maysles. As a sculptor, his work has been shown in several galleries in New York City and written about in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Architectural Digest, Forbes, among other publications. He is affectionately known among cult-film followers as “The Marble Faun”; a nickname that Edith Bouvier Beale gave him upon their first meeting. Torre worked as an assistant to Wayland Flowers, and through Aristotle Onassis obtained a job tending gardens for the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia. He was portrayed in the Tony Award winning Broadway musical Grey Gardens in 2006. His life has been documented in the 2011 film The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Vernou Bouvier Jr.</span> American lawyer (1866–1948)

Major John Vernou Bouvier Jr. was an American Wall Street lawyer and stockbroker. He was the father of John Vernou Bouvier III as well as a grandfather of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and socialites Princess Lee Radziwill and Edith Bouvier Beale.

References

  1. 1 2 "The House". Grey Gardens Online. 2009. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Sight & Sound magazine documentary poll #10". IMDb. August 1, 2014. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  3. ↑ "City and Vicinity" (PDF). The New York Times . The United Press. December 15, 1895. Long Island section, paragraph 2. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  4. ↑ Petrow, Steven (2004). The Lost Hamptons. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 86–. ISBN   978-0-7385-1187-0. No better example is Grey Gardens, the residence of Mrs. Stanhope Phillips, designed by Joseph Greenleaf Thorp. Built in 1897 on West End Road overlooking the Atlantic, the house was for years famous for its enclosed back gardens, ...
  5. ↑ "Stanhope Phillip's Will Admitted" (PDF). The New York Times . April 3, 1901. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  6. 1 2 Mallon, Bridget (September 11, 2015). "The Grey Gardens Estate Could Be Yours For $175,000 A Month: The infamous mansion has been fully restored to its pre-Edie glory". Veranda . Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  7. ↑ Weissberg, Jay (March 30, 2018). "Film Review: That Summer". Variety.
  8. 1 2 3 Peterson, Oliver (September 3, 2007). "Sally Quinn and Ben Bradlee on Grey Gardens". The Southampton Press. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  9. ↑ Bradlee, Ben. A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures. Touchstone. pp. 456–457. ISBN   9780684825236.
  10. ↑ Rogers, Katie (March 2, 2017). "Want to Live in Grey Gardens? It Can Be Yours for $20 Million". The New York Times . p. D1. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  11. ↑ Mosendz, Polly (November 17, 2017). "Hamptons Society Lines Up for a Yard Sale at the Infamous Grey Gardens". Bloomberg.
  12. ↑ Halberg, Morgan (December 22, 2017). "The Legendary Grey Gardens Estate Officially Sold". Observer.
  13. ↑ Ramzi, Lilah (August 12, 2019). "Net-a-Porter and Tiffany & Co. Hosted a Party at Grey Gardens—East Hampton's Most Famous Address". Vogue.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.