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Grey Gardens

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Ben Bradlee, legendary Washington Post editor, died October 21st at his Washington, D.C. home of natural causes. News of his death reminded me of Grey Gardens, the Hamptons home that Mr. Bradlee and his wife Sally Quinn bought and restored.

Few homes evoke as much fascination as Grey Gardens . . .  [T]he current owners, Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn, summer at the East Hampton, New York, house. Bradlee and Quinn purchased the home in 1979 from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s impoverished but colorful cousin, Little Edie Bouvier Beale, who had lived there since 1923 and was the subject, along with her mother, Big Edie, of Albert and David Maysles’ haunting 1975 documentary, Grey Gardens. Over the decades Bradlee and Quinn, both distinguished journalists (he is a former executive editor of the Washington Post and an upcoming recipient of the presidential medal of freedom, and she is a celebrated author and veteran Washington Post columnist), managed to return the run­down landmark to its former WASP grandeur.
Little Edie Beale in front of Grey Gardens.
Photo via "Staunch Characters: 'Grey Gardens' " by Kim Morgan.

"A shingled, rose-bowered and privet-hedge-enclosed Arts-and-Crafts style house by the sea, it was designed by local architect and aesthete Joseph Greenleaf Thorp and completed in 1897."
Grey Gardens was the Hamptons home of Big Edie Beale, an aunt of Jacqueline Kennedy, and her daughter little Edie Beale. The pair lived in eccentric squalor in the house after Big Edie's divorce and disinheritance left her unable to sustain the privileged lifestyle to which they were accustomed. 
Photo via "Meeting the Maysles: Grey Gardens Comes to Harlem" by Michael Henry Adams.
The Huffington Post (July 17, 2009).

Little Edie Beale.
Photo via "Staunch Characters: 'Grey Gardens' " by Kim Morgan.

Little Edie Beale.
Photo via "Meeting the Maysles: Grey Gardens Comes to Harlem" by Michael Henry Adams.
The Huffington Post (July 17, 2009).

Big Edie Beale.
Photo via "Meeting the Maysles: Grey Gardens Comes to Harlem" by Michael Henry Adams.
The Huffington Post (July 17, 2009).

Big Edie Beale.
Photo via "Staunch Characters: 'Grey Gardens' " by Kim Morgan.

"Ms. Quinn said she fell in love with the house as soon as she entered it. 'There's something magical about this house. You couldn't walk into it without putting a handkerchief over your nose, but I thought it was just beautiful,' she said. 'It just absolutely gripped me. I looked at it and I saw what the house could be like, saw what the garden could be.' . . .  the main staircase as seen from the second floor."
Photo: Courtesy of Sally Quinn.
The New York Times (April 15, 2009).

"Among the debris Ms. Quinn and Mr. Bradlee found in their house were the corpses of cats and skulls of raccoons. Here, scattered seashells and piles of books occupy one of the ten bedrooms."
Photo: Courtesy of Sally Quinn.
The New York Times (April 15, 2009).

"Quinn Bradlee, the couple's adult son, says he and his mother sometimes joke that they will end up like Big Edie and Little Edie. 'My mom and I, we do argue a lot. But I think the way [the Beales] argued was due more to their craziness than love. The way my mom and I argue, it's because we care about each other so much and love each other so much,' Mr. Bradlee said. At left, the bedroom used by Little Edie after her mother died. A single light bulb hangs in a bird cage above the bed."
Photo: Courtesy of Sally Quinn.
The New York Times (April 15, 2009).

" 'I wasn't sure I wanted to buy the house,' Mr. Bradlee said. 'There were 52 dead cats in it, and funeral arrangements had to be made for each one.' At left, the master bedroom, which had been used by Big Edie."
Photo: Courtesy of Sally Quinn.
The New York Times (April 15, 2009).

"When Ms. Quinn touched a key on this piano in the living room, the while thing collapsed and fell through the floor."
Photo: Courtesy of Sally Quinn.
The New York Times (April 15, 2009).

"Nora Ephron, a friend of the Bradlees, says Grey Gardens is a sight to behold. 'It's quite a fabulous restoration because they didn't tear the house down, they rebuilt it,' she said. 'All the original bones are there. All the grace of the original house is exactly as it was.' At left, a small bedroom with a porch that has views of the ocean. Ms. Quinn had all of the furniture seen here restored, and it is still in use."
Photo: Courtesy of Sally Quinn.
The New York Times (April 15, 2009).

"A detail from the master bedroom used by Big Edie. Today, the home is a summer residence for Ms. Quinn and Mr. Bradlee and has become a destination that guests routinely describe as 'magical.' Lauren Bacall, a friend of the Bradlees, says she has many fond memories. 'It is a happy house,' Ms. Bacall said. 'There is life there.' "
Photo: Courtesy of Sally Quinn.
The New York Times (April 15, 2009).

"East Hampton’s Grey Gardens, now the home of renowned journalists Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn, was recently the setting of a cocktail party celebrating an upcoming Sackler Gallery benefit."
Photography by Gregory Partanio/Manhattan Society.
Text by Jeffrey Slonim.
Architectural Digest (August 15, 2013).

"The Inquisitive Guest had last interviewed Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn at the Pierre hotel during a dinner for the New York premiere of HBO’s 2009 Grey Gardens adaptation, starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. They had described the sad state of the property when they purchased it. 'After Jackie restored it, [the Edies] let it go back to where it was before,' said Quinn at that time.
'Jackie didn’t really restore it,' clarified Bradlee.
'She put on a new roof, and they cleaned [the house] out,' Quinn explained. 'And I think they added some plumbing, but then they let it go again. So when we bought it, the floors were rotted, but the piano was still there. You’d go into the living room, touch the wall, and it would move out 12 inches, as if it were on a hinge from the second floor.'
Quinn then noted that a crucial part of the restoration was the rehabilitation of the gardens. 'We found the perfect gardener who understood what we wanted, which is for them to be sort of mysterious and slightly overgrown.' ”
Quinn (center) is seen here with Jeannie Lars (left) and Dame Jillian Sackler.
Photography by Gregory Partanio/Manhattan Society.
Text by Jeffrey Slonim.
Architectural Digest (August 15, 2013).

"Bradlee, seen here with art collector Ann Nitze, echoed his wife’s sentiments from years earlier, 'The gardens are unbelievable.' ”
Photography by Gregory Partanio/Manhattan Society.
Text by Jeffrey Slonim.
Architectural Digest (August 15, 2013).

Grey Gardens.
Photo via "Meeting the Maysles: Grey Gardens Comes to Harlem" by Michael Henry Adams.
The Huffington Post (July 17, 2009).

"In a sunny living room decorated with the home’s original wicker furniture, Quinn explained, 'I was in such a state of excitement when I went up to the attic and found the furniture. Almost all of it was original to the house. It had to be restored, but I was just shaking.' ”
Photography by Gregory Partanio/Manhattan Society.
Text by Jeffrey Slonim.
Architectural Digest (August 15, 2013).

 "In acquiring long-neglected Grey Gardens, on Long Island, journalist/writer Sally Quinn and her husband, Ben Bradlee, executive editor of the Washington Post, took on a major challenge. Their intensive restoration of the turn-of-the-century house was abetted by architect E. L. Futterman and builder Robert Langman."
Photography by Peter Vitale.
Text by Sally Quinn.
Architectural Digest (December 1984).

"Sally Quinn opens a gate to the secret garden."
Photography by Peter Vitale.
Text by Sally Quinn.
Architectural Digest (December 1984).

"Flowers now blossom in lieu of tangled weeds and vines."
Photography by Peter Vitale.
Text by Sally Quinn.
Architectural Digest (December 1984).


"The light, fresh atmosphere of the house is evident in the entrance hall, with its hemp floor matting and Cowtan and Tout wallpaper. Like much of the furniture throughout, the table and side chair were among the treasures found in the attic. The pencil drawing depicts Grey Gardens years ago."
Photography by Peter Vitale.
Text by Sally Quinn.
Architectural Digest (December 1984).


"Other attic finds included the chaise longues, brass lamps and wicker tables and chairs in the living room."
Photography by Peter Vitale.
Text by Sally Quinn.
Architectural Digest (December 1984).


"Explaining the predominance of the rose motif, Sally Quinn comments, 'All of the colors and chintzes I chose were to complement the garden, since it was the garden I used as the theme for my decorating scheme.' ”
Photography by Peter Vitale.
Text by Sally Quinn.
Architectural Digest (December 1984).


"Appropriately, the Bradlees collect old newspaper posters, one of which, in the living room, is a turn-of-the-century French example."
Photography by Peter Vitale.
Text by Sally Quinn.
Architectural Digest (December 1984).


"In its simple cheerfulness the dining room ideally suits the very informal entertaining preferred by the Bradlees."
Photography by Peter Vitale.
Text by Sally Quinn.
Architectural Digest (December 1984).


"A part of the large kitchen is given over to a sitting area, comfortably appointed with a trio of sofas upholstered in Brunschwig and Fils fabric. Pillows wrapped in Cowtan and Tout flowered cotton, and in patchwork, lend contrast. The stove—a new one—resembles the antique version it replaced."
Photography by Peter Vitale.
Text by Sally Quinn.
Architectural Digest (December 1984).


"Ms. Quinn recalled that after Little Edie put the house on the market for $220,000, she turned down several potential buyers, fearing they would tear it down and build something new. 'I walked in and said "this is the most beautiful house I've ever seen," And she said, 'it's yours,' Ms. Quinn said. Then she did this little pirouette in the hall of the house, put her hands up in the air and said 'All it needs is a coat of paint!' " 
Photo: Courtesy of Sally Quinn.
"Reinventing Grey Gardens: A Drawn-Out Drama in Itself" by Julie Scelfo.
The New York Times (April 15, 2009).


"The master bedroom is brightened by quilts from Sally Quinn’s extensive collection. The bed—from the attic."
Photography by Peter Vitale.
Text by Sally Quinn.
Architectural Digest (December 1984).


Grey Gardens.
Photo via "Meeting the Maysles: Grey Gardens Comes to Harlem" by Michael Henry Adams.
The Huffington Post (July 17, 2009).

"When the secret garden was finally cleared of debris, it revealed, says Sally Quinn, 'wonderful zany stucco Italianate walls, with a rotting pergola and a crumbling thatch-roofed cottage.' ”
Photography by Peter Vitale.
Text by Sally Quinn.
Architectural Digest (December 1984).


Grey Gardens.
Photo via "Meeting the Maysles: Grey Gardens Comes to Harlem" by Michael Henry Adams.
The Huffington Post (July 17, 2009).

“ 'It took cranes to lift bulldozers inside the wall—once we found it—to accomplish the clearing,' says Quinn. 'The garden, of course, was the whole point of the house, the reason for its name, even though we have to take the previous owner’s word for it that it even existed.' ”
Photography by Peter Vitale.
Text by Sally Quinn.
Architectural Digest (December 1984).


"Now, years later, the garden flourishes; the pergola is a pleasant refuge, and the rebuilt thatch-roofed cottage is a child’s playhouse." 
Photography by Peter Vitale.
Text by Sally Quinn.
Architectural Digest (December 1984).

 "Grey Gardens, in views from the house to the ocean, has come far since Benjamin C. Bradlee and Sally Quinn bought it in 1979. They added a pool, and after overgrowth was cleared, hired Victoria Fensterer who planted hydrangea and juniper."
The New York Times (April 15, 2009).

As of February 1, 2013, Grey Gardens was available for rent for the months of June and July for $125,000. The Bradlees spent each August at the Hamptons home. 
Grey Gardens.
Curbed Hamptons (February 1, 2013).

As of February 1, 2013, Grey Gardens was available for rent for the months of June and July for $125,000. The Bradlees spent each August at the Hamptons home. 
Grey Gardens.
Grey Gardens.
Curbed Hamptons (February 1, 2013).

Ben Bradlee - sitting on what appears to be the wicker furniture of his Hamptons home, Grey Gardens.
Photo via The Washington Post.
"Ben Bradlee, Legendary Washington Post Editor, Dies at 93" by Robert G. Kaiser.
The Washington Post (October 21, 2014).
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Grey Gardens
Grey Gardens
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