I can't stop thinking about HBO's stunning production of "Grey Gardens" which premiered this past Saturday night. I thought Drew Barrymore perfectly captured Little Edie's heartbreaking naivete and inner pathos, and Jessica Lange was wonderful as the imperious, controlling (yet still charming) mother. But there was another main character in the film I fell in love with: the house as it used to be, at the height of its 1930's splendor.
Blogger Visual Vamp has done several amazing in-depth posts about the production design of the movie and I urge you to head over to her site and read them for yourself. She lived in East Hampton in the 1970's and actually met Little Edie when she rode her bicycle up to Grey Gardens one day. Her first-hand account of their friendship is fascinating.
As a longtime fan of the documentary, I've often wished I could have seen the house before it collapsed into squalor. Through the talents of Kalina Ivanov, the movie's set designer, my dream has been realized.
Below are a few production photos, again courtesy of Visual Vamp...
Grey Gardens at the height of its splendor:
(The main hall)
(The living room)
(The living room)
(The dining room)
And recreated as it appeared in the 1970's:
(The dining room)
(The living room)
Below is an actual photo of Big Edie amid the decay of the house, with a portrait of her younger self looking on.
This next photo shows Little Edie during her week of cabaret shows in Greenwich Village in late 1978 (following the death of her mother). She was a true original -- defiantly eccentric and relentlessly chic in her own crazy-weird way. I'm so glad she was finally able to achieve her long-held dream of performing, and I hope the audience gave her all the adulation she craved.
I leave you with this lovely musical montage of Little Edie that I found on YouTube. It brings a little lump to my throat every time I watch it. (The montage starts at about the 1:00 mark.)