The Mansion From "Grey Gardens" Is Up For Sale
One of the most iconic homes in America is back on the market: Grey Gardens, the home of Edith Bouvier Beale and Edith Beale profiled in the Maysles brothers' 1975 documentary, is for sale for just under $20 million.
Built in 1897 in the East Hamptons, the three-story, seven-bedroom property is about 300 feet from the beach, and includes six-and-a-half bathrooms, a heated pool, tennis courts, and of course, lush gardens. It fell into horrible disrepair by the time "Little" Edie and her mother became camp sensations. (During Grey Gardens, cats and raccoons scamper through stacks of old newspapers.)
Big Edie died in 1977, and two years later Little Edie sold the house to Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee and his writer wife, Sally Quinn, for a reported $220,000. (Beale also left family letters and antiques behind in the attic).
The couple spent millions restoring the home to its original grandeur and vacationed there most summers until Bradlee's death in 2014. Quinn, now 75, said Grey Gardens "is a magical place," but she wants to move on.
"It just wasn't the same without [Ben]," she told the Wall Street Journal. "It's a magical place and we had a magical life there, but that part of my life is over now." (Quinn says she's incorporating many of her recollections about Grey Gardens in her upcoming memoir, Finding Magic.)
She hopes the new owners don't remodel too much but adds, "Whoever buys it, it's their house."
Regardless, the property at 3 West End Road will always be associated with Little and Big Edie. Beyond the original film, they were immortalized in the followup documentary, The Beales of Grey Gardens, as well as a 2009 HBO movie and a Tony-winning Broadway musical.
They've even provided inspiration for the queens of RuPaul's Drag Race.
If you're dying to get some of that Grey Gardens glamour but don't have $19.99 million lying around, the house was recently offered as a year rental—for just $175,000.