Renovating Grey Gardens

Located in East Hampton, Grey Gardens used to belong to “Big Edie,” and “Little Edie” Beale: the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The house had been long-neglected before journalist/writer Sally Quinn and her husband, Ben Bradlee, executive editor of the Washington Post, decided to take on the major challenge of renovating it.

In Sally's words: “When I first stepped inside, the cat smell was overpowering. The floor was part dirt. The ceiling was caving in. Raccoons peered at me through the rafters. Some twenty cats scurried as we entered each room. Still I thought it was the prettiest house I had ever seen.”

“We returned to the living room, stepping carefully over the rotting boards. I touched the keys on the grand piano and it collapsed. “Little Edie” didn’t seem to notice. She did a waltz in the middle of the living room, and when she finished, she waved her arms magnanimously and said, “All it needs is a little paint.”

Sally went back. This time with Ben. Even though Ben is allergic to cats and on his first visit his eyes were streaming and he couldn’t breathe, they decided to take on the challenge.

“I arrived in East Hampton to close the sale of the house. I ventured into the attic for the first time, to find everyone’s fantasy—a treasure trove of objects from a bygone era, unused for half a century. There was almost enough of everything to furnish the entire house. It was a true archaeological expedition, unearthing things that painted a perfect picture of the twenties and thirties. Everything I opened took me through the looking glass to discover another world—one of wealth and privilege, of travels and calling cards, of servants and beautiful clothes and, most of all, of a leisure that doesn’t exist in many lives today.”

Architect E. L. Futterman and builder Robert Langman took care of the intensive restoration of the turn-of-the-century house.

In the entrance hall: 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. Hemp floor matting.

Other attic finds included the chaise longues, brass lamps and wicker tables and chairs in the living room.

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.”

The Bradlees collect old newspaper posters, one of which, in the living room, is a turn-of-the-century French example.

A part of the large kitchen is given over to a sitting area. The stove—a new one—resembles the antique version it replaced.

Master bedroom. The bed was also found in the attic.


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. It took cranes to lift bulldozers inside the wall—once we found it—to accomplish the clearing. “The garden, of course, was the whole point of the house, the reason for its name.”
The rebuilt thatch-roofed cottage is a child’s playhouse.


One of the entrances to the secret garden.

Photography by Peter Vitale.

All images and information from here.

Renovated House in the Hamptons

Built in the early 1980s, this 10 room house was so badly designed that it lacked even a proper front entrance. But it had one attribute that erased all of its defects: It was perfectly placed on one of the choicest spots in East Hampton. On one side was the Atlantic Ocean. On the other was an elegant wooden windmill, built in 1801. The owners appointed architect Andrew Pollock to renovate it and Cullman & Kravis for the interiors. This is how it turned out.



How about having a 19th-century windmill in your front garden?

The dining pergola offers unobstructed water views.


In the living room a large steel-and-ormolu Italian mirror from the 1930s was set just inches above an early-19th-century New England mantel.

Dark gray pietra serena Italian countertop, white cabinets and white subway tiles behind the range.

A new stair landing created space for a reading nook. The elmwood comb-back Windsor chair dates to the 1780s, and the candlestick table is from the late 19th century. Sisal carpet.


The residents collect contemporary photography, and the master suite includes works by Malick Sidibé, Lou Bernstein and Robert Frank. The sitting room’s five-foot-square double chaise provides an inviting place for two people to relax.

Neil Winokur portraits of the owners’ past and present dogs hang above the fireplace in the sitting area adjacent to the kitchen.

The guesthouse entrance is accessed through a manicured garden.

A bridge at the rear of the house leads to a “sunset deck” atop the poolhouse.

Landscape designer Jane E. Lappin surrounded a deck with salt-tolerant plants.

Architecture by Andrew Pollock/Interior Design by Cullman & Kravis

Photography by Durston Saylor

All images and information from here.