Houses of the Hamptons

Houses of the Hamptons 1880-1930 Revised featured in the New York Social Diary

Houses of the Hamptons 1880-1930 Revised in todays

New York Social Diary September 3, 2013

http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1909744

Ann Madonia Antiques in Southampton gave a celebratory book signing party this past Friday for the newly revised edition of, “Houses of the Hamptons, 1880-1930” by Gary Lawrance & Anne Surchin. The book now in its third printing has been updated with many new color photographs and four new chapters including the early history of Gray Gardens and how it received that name. Many of the homes lost and extant also have floor plans, often first and second floors.
The book offers the reader a look into many of the great houses and mansions of the Hamptons before and during the Great Gatsby Jazz age of the 1920s. If Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan were real, they would be living in the Hamptons today.

Many homes of today's Billionaires are included such as;
Hedge Fund Titan John Paulson's Old Trees estate in Southampton.
New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg's recently purchased Southampton Georgian mansion, Ballyshear.
Designer Tory Burch's new Southampton estate, Westerly.
Calvin Klein's former home, Chestertown House/Dragon's Head.

Plus many more oceanside villas and manicured estates of members of Gilded Age Society including the Woolworths, Duponts, Berwinds, Livingstons, Herters, Van Rensselaers and Rogers.

You may also preview the book, Houses of the Hamptons 1880-1930 Revised by clicking on the cover at the Acanthus Press website. www.acanthuspress.com

Grey Gardens at East Hampton

Grey Gardens in better days

Grey Gardens showing the once beautiful gardens it was famous for. Photo: Library of Congress

The walled garden at Grey Gardens. Photo: Library of Congress

Grey Gardens, the famed ruined home of the Beale family in East Hampton, has been portrayed on film, stage, television and in numerous books, newspaper and magazine articles. Interest in the home and the Beale's never seems to wane. I think people will always be curious about the fall and decline of those that once lived Gilded Lives and how the passing of time can erode that gilt, exposing the bare surface beneath. Fortunately Grey Gardens was reborn when Little Edie sold the decrepit house and overgrown garden to Ben Bradley and Sally Quinn in 1979. They have spent painstaking years restoring and updating it, returning it back into one of the showplaces of East Hampton. Please follow the link to see Grey Gardens being enjoyed at a recent cocktail party featured in architecturaldigest.com Also read about and view the restored interiors in this 1984 story in Architectural Digest .