I Spy the detail of the magazine with Jackie on the cover!Kalina Ivanov is the production designer, and the rooms she has put together are so layered and gorgeous, they become a co-star of the movie.
You can read more on this terrific blog dedicated to Grey Gardens HERE
This is the foyer. Classic Hamptons style all the way. The staircase is beautiful.
This is the living room. I love the layering of the furnishings and accessories, and the color of the walls.
Here's another view of the foyer. The little bench is so sweet.
Here is Big Edie, as she lived the last thirty years of her life, with her portrait as she lived the first part of her life.
Here's how Kalina Ivanov used the portrait in the set design. Isn't this room just lovely? I especially love the draperies, which look like a linen fabric by Kravitz.
Here's the portrait again, very much as it was seen in the photo above with Big Edie. I love the faded colors of the walls. They are so nuanced and rich, much more so than the dreary palette you discern from all the black and white photos we see of Grey Gardens.
Here's Little Edie in the house in the 1970's.
Dear Sally Quinn,
If you are reading please, please let a photo shoot happen at Grey Gardens soon! We all would love to see the magic you've worked there. xo xo
I am so looking forward to this HBO movie on Saturday. Such a tragic, but fascinating, tale. Did you see the article, with great photos, in the new Town and Country?
ReplyDeleteHow, oh how, I would have loved to have been the set designer for this production!!
Val! Isn't it amazing?! Hop on over to my blog. I did a big post on Grey Gardens and the Edies yesterday icluding their past, the big scandal, 1975 documentary, and the set design for the HBO movie. I think you'd like it. :)
ReplyDeleteFaded grandeur to the NTH degree! Yum!
ReplyDeletexo Isa
It is genius. Everything about it is spot on.
ReplyDeletePerfect example of the set design being an equal contributor to the story. Flawless combination of all talents in this project.
I watched this movie (the original documentary) on the weekend and I have to say that I found it quite depressing. I am still trying to figure out what all the buzz around the lives of these two tragic characters is all about and why the fascination with them??? I will have to catch the new movie and see how they compare, as the set desgns for the new movie certainly look like they have glamourized the sad state of the house and of their lives.
ReplyDeletePatricia
wow! they did a fabulous job re-creating the look of that rundown beauty of a house.
ReplyDeletei only hope jess and drew can do their character's justice. i have faith though. can't wait. all my mary friends in NY are having parties parties parties. can you imagine the fun there?
xoj
A comment from a reader via e-mail:
ReplyDeleteLOVED THIS. A friend of mine turned me on to the documentary awhile back and I found it fascinating. Also, I loved how Little Edie would wear towels, etc. all fastened with different brooches. You have had quite the life -- and I love the Perch blog, beautiful merchandise.
Bonnie
A comment from a reader via e-mail:
ReplyDeleteHi Valorie-
I just read your post today about your time in East Hampton. Such a fascinating story ! I too have pedaled down Lily Pond Lane slowly passing those grand beach houses trying to imagine the pastel colored walls, the white gleaming wood work, and the summer blue sky over the ocean. My husband spent his summers and every weekend during the school year at their home on Hook Pond Lane. We live outside Boston but head to the Hamptons frequently with our 5 children. This winter my mother-in-law, Andree Dean, celebrated her 80th birthday and we took over The Hedges Inn for the celebration. It is a very special place indeed.
I love your blog and check for updates everyday. I have been wanting to write to you about the launch of our new fabric. So when I read the Hamptons post, I decided that today must be the day to contact you ! Ta Da ! We proudly announce our new line of 100% cotton canvas/indoor outdoor fabric called Wellfleet Waters ! Cotton canvas was the staple summertime textile for us having spent all of our summers in Wellfleet on Cape Cod. Our canvas beach totes, canvas tennis sneakers, white canvas beach hats, our striped beach chairs all growing softer with each passing summer. Wellfleet Waters brilliant colored fabric is water resistant, anti-mildew and suitable for indoor/outddor use. I hope you will check out our website and let us know what you think ! www.wellfleetwates.com
Best regards,
Beth Dean
Eccentricity is an art. I find it rather sad yet rather unique. The set design is perfect.
ReplyDeleteI think Grey Gardens (the house) was published some years ago in Architectural Digest; Sally Quinn wrote the article. Image Colefax & Fowler on acid ...
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for those great photo's. I look forward to checking out the blog & can't wait for the HBO movie.
ReplyDeleteTerrific..terrific post
(:
* V girl~ I agree w/ PVE Design~ that eccentricity IS an "art"~ and usually it's SO DELIGHTFUL!
ReplyDelete* I DO believe, however, that the ENJOYABLE & QUIRKY "eccentric" NEEDS to be/SHOULD be CONGNIZANT of the fact that he/she IS eccentric, for a variety of reasons~~~ if that makes any sense!!!
* Am soooo hoping I don't come across as a "downer" or just "too serious" here (oh heavens! It's probably just a "chick thing" tonight!), but I find the relationship/life of these two women more than simply sad, and so DEPRESSING to think about. I also find it incredibly difficult that "others" could turn their heads to their obvious need for SOME kind of "special help", in SOME kind of way! How wonderful, tho, that YOU took a personal interest in them~~~ (I suspect you earned yet another "special mark" on the "list up there", kiddo!)~
* I know we keep things light around here, as it should be, so if you feel my concerns are/were just too much of a "downer" Valorie, puhleeeeezzze know I will understand if you choose not to keep this in the comments section here, my friend!
Big, warm hugs,
Linda *
I'm responding in kind to the thread of sentiment running through the comments: I think we all acknowledge that the way life unfolded for Big Edie and Little Edie is sorrowful and disturbing, and every one of us would have given them something better if it were in our power to do so. I'm sure the reasons why something wasn't done are complicated and, perhaps by now, unknowable. As for our curiosity about them, I can only speak for myself. I admit I found them fascinating because their slide from opulence to squalor was so surreal in light of who they were connected to. Also, they lived in a time and place in American history that generated the art, film, fashion, celebrities, news, and all the rest that influenced my growing up years. Even if I didn't live it, I absorbed it through the media. Also, I think we are often amazed when people who are rich, powerful, famous, educated, beautiful, or royal go off the deep end. Our wiring makes us curious about how such a thing could have happened. Hopefully what our curiosity reaps makes us more compassionate, patient, generous people. There are some stories I cannot watch because they scar me, and the limits in that way are different for each of us. When I was a teenager I may have watched the Beale's story out of pure curiosity. But the woman I am today will also watch with the heart of someone who has fought her own battles. (As for the movie sets, they are indeed a work of art, created with a detailed and thoughtful eye. Such care taken in this area is so important for a film.)
ReplyDeleteHello All,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the wonderful discussion!
Never be afraid of being a downer!
I am very interested in all of your comments, ideas, and opinions.
You are such a sensitive, brainy, talented bunch!
xo xo
Valorie - Just checking in for a moment, but I have to come back and read your post in detail and all the comments! I just read the article in Town & Country yesterday and did find the story so interesting - thanks for a great addendum to the article.
ReplyDeleteSally Quinn did once write an article about Grey Gardens, I think it was for Architectural Digest.
ReplyDeleteBB