Tuesday, June 15, 2010

For The Love Of Grey Gardens

I love a great makeover - and I know you do too.

This story is a little bit of the opposite of a makeover - a beautiful East Hampton's home with incredible classic beauty -




then eventually looked like this...



 "Things just tend to accumulate after Labor Day."  - Little Edie Beale


Have you watched the movie "Grey Gardens"?



Oh friends, if you haven't, you truly must!

 It is a true story based upon the the lives of Edith Bouvier Beale (Big Edie) and her daughter Edie Bouvier Beale (Little Edie). They were related to Jackie Kennedy Onasis (as aunt and first cousin respectivly) and the movie depicts the mother and daughter's lives of being rich socialites to living in extreme poverty and utter squalar. In the mid-70's a documentary team filmed the two women and the movie quickly became a cult classic. In 2009, HBO released a recreation of the movie staring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. The HBO version recreates some scenes of the original documentary but aslo gives you the before and after story of the women's lives.

 

It's an amazing movie and I can't tell you how much I love watching it. My little sister and I throw quotes back and forth to one another on Facebook as she is a huge fan of the movie too. We talk in their accents and my sister even donned Little Edie's famous head scarves.


 Sorry Julie! But this photo makes me laugh every time!




There is so much interesting trivia surrounding the two women and their eccentric lives. For instance - Little Edie was so beautiful that she used to be a model - even having her picture hung in Macy's. Big Edie was also considered to be a singer/piano prodigy.




And in regards to the actors who flawlessly recreated the women there is also a vast amount of interesting tidbits. Like Drew Barrymore did not communicate with any of her friends or family for the entire length of filming (about 3 months) to better get into the character of the isolated Little Edie.



The home came to utter ruins after years of neglect and through a host of cats and raccoons that came to call "Grey Gardens" home. After Big Edie died, Little Edie sold Grey Gardens to Ben Bradlee, the former executive editor of The Washington Post, and his wife, the writer Sally Quinn on the promise that they would not tear down the home. Little Edie said all the house needed was a "coat of paint!" HA!


I'll share with you a few photos of the home after Sally and Ben purchased it.


When Mrs. Quinn touched a key on the piano, the whole thing collapsed and fell through the floor!


The grande staircase.


Oh just look at the filth on the walls and floor!


Before


After the Beale's


Grey Garden's today.





Here is the link to the complete set of photos:
 Truly, this movie is funny, shocking, heart warming, heart wrenching and a true story of love between a mother and daughter. Put it on your list of flicks to rent. I promise you will ADORE the before shots of the gorgeous Grey Gardens. It's absolutely breathtaking! And I'm sure you'll gasp as the movie progresses and you see the afters! Let me know if you've seen it...or plan to watch it! Now I'm off to go tell my sister about this post. She's gonna shoot me for posting that photo of her. :)

Some photos and information via Grey Gardens Online and The Official Gey Gardens Fan Site.

9 comments:

Angie said...

I have seen this movie, such a fascinating story!

~ Lisa @ AbidingThere~ said...

Why, Mandi Cresswell!! You are expecting a baby!! :) I guess it has been a while since a hopped over here, and I was just innocently scrolling down - then I saw this tiny baby in the margin with a countdown of days...

Congratulations to you and Shane - that is excellent news. I'm so excited for you.

xo Lisa

Unknown said...

Have I seen it?! I watched the original documentary in 2000-1?. Loved it then, planned on hating the new Grey Gardens but ended up really liking it. I think they did a good job of trying to explain why it got that way.

Unknown said...

Wow! I had to idea any of this existed!

Sara D said...

I did watch the movie and loved it! It's funny you wrote about this, because I actually called my house Grey Gardens when we first moved in! It was completely trashed and the backyard was overgrown.

Tina said...

Hi Mandi:) I loved this post! I have not seen the movie, but did watch the entire real-life documentary of the Beale women, it was fascinating and I actually watched it more than once. It is wonderful to know that the house and gardens have been restores as the state of the house in the documentary was so sad! Hope you are feeling well!! Wishing you a wonderful week ~ Tina xx

Unknown said...

What a beautiful story. I'll have to stop by Netflix and add it to our queue.

Honey said...

So far I've only seen the original documentary. I first heard about the two Edies from an article in a 2007 issue of HARPER'S and they fascinated me so much that I wondered how to find the documentary; by chance I came across it in Youtube. They were memorable characters; I would like to watch the movie s well

Honey said...

So far I've only seen the original documentary. I first heard about the two Edies from an article in a 2007 issue of HARPER'S and they fascinated me so much that I wondered how to find the documentary; by chance I came across it in Youtube. They were memorable characters; I would like to watch the movie s well

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