Everyone knows and loves Grey Gardens–not only one of the most famous estates in East Hampton, it’s one of the loveliest, with a truly stunning exterior and summery, old-school-elegant interiors. And American Express, it seems, has the good taste to appreciate it. According to the New York Post, AmEx has rented the property for summer events. And, as many people know, the hottest restaurant reservation of the summer is Eleven Madison Park’s EMP Summer House; bookings are exclusive to AmEx cardholders. According to a source in the Post, EMP will host AmEx events at the house. Doesn’t that sound delightful? Food from the restaurant rated best in the world in possibly the most magical East Hampton estate? (AmEx, you know where to send the evite, right?)
The history of the place: in 1924, Phelan Beale and Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale purchased the house. Phelan was a law partner of John Bouvier, Jr. and had married Bouvier’s daughter, Edith. Bouvier’s Further Lane home, Lasata, where his granddaughter Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was a frequent visitor, is also for sale.
Phelan Beale left his wife, and for many years Edith, known as Big Edie, and daughter Little Edie lived alone in increasing poverty, mental illness, and squalor, mostly ignored by their relations. They became famous in 1975 when a documentary, Grey Gardens, was filmed about their daily lives and their relationship by the Maysles Brothers. The film has subsequently been acclaimed a classic. Eventually, embarrassed, their cousin Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis had the house cleaned up.
After Big Edie’s death, Little Edie put Grey Gardens on the market. Ben Bradlee, who was editor of the Washington Post during Watergate, and wife Sally Quinn, also a journalist, purchased the estate in 1979 for $220,000. The house was in terrible condition again–the agent refused to even set foot in the house and Quinn recalled later that the house “was worse than in the movie,” although Little Edie told the Bradlees “All it needs is a coat of paint!”
The Bradlees lovingly restored and renovated the dignified old place and after Mr. Bradlee’s death, put the house up for sale or summer rental, listed by Corcoran’s Michael Schultz and Susan Ryan.
The property is 1.7 acres with still-stunning gardens, while the house boasts 10 bedrooms and 6.5 baths. It probably needs some updates, including the quirky kitchen, but is basically fine as is. We think the asking price of just under $20M is pretty reasonable, all things considered, although we might insist the framed posters of the movie and HBO adaptation be included. (Cans of cat food and hot plates in every bedroom are extra, of course. Just don’t let the cat go to the bathroom right back of your portrait.)
For more, click here. 3 West End Road, East Hampton
