Visit Old Saybrook, Connecticut with us and come inside the former home of an American icon, screen legend Katharine Hepburn. It served as her tranquil retreat from Hollywood and was a property she loved dearly.
Despite the bullshit that Fionna is claiming in this video, this home did not originally have an open floor plan, nor did it have all this overkill of white-washing. Originally, each room had better definition and the walls were covered in dark wood paneling. The original ceilings were a lot lower than what it now has, and those French doors were a later add-on NOT present in the home's original architecture. When Hepburn was living there the kitchen was completely different than what it now is! The original kitchen had no counter tops, period. Hepburn DID NOT call that her bedroom! That does not even remotely look like the room it did when Hepburn lived there. For starters, all the original windows were removed, and were re-sized to accommodate the installation of these big, gaudy windows. This wasn't just done in Hepburn's former bedroom, it was done throughout the entire damn house! Needless to say, having all these HUGE windows and glass-front French doors (not to mention elevating all the ceilings) not only changed the home's original natural lighting and ambiance, it has now made the home vastly less energy efficient! God, that house must get FREEZING COLD every damn Winter!! It must cost a fortune to heat it in the Winter now. If the Sciame Family had truly wanted to "showcase the home's history" then they would have shown at least a shred of respect for its original architecture! Instead, they made it look like any number of identical, bland, soulless, white monstrosities one sees in Connecticut these days.
You got that right Lady Katharine Hepburn father and mother would come out here and enjoy themselves for the summer entire family was in that place including her ex-boyfriend Luddy ledlow
I don't remember the house looking like this. I spent every summer in Fenwick Beach and the outside walls is the only original things from when she lived there. The new owners ruined it with the update. She would have hated how it looks now.💃✌💓
I grew up about a mile from the house. Kate's brother Dick lived there for many years with his family. I saw some of the interior then and NONE of the original interior charm remains. Sad.
The exterior is the only thing that remains true to how Katherine Hepburn-her oceanside home was gutted by the current owners-NOTHING except maybe a fireplace is original to how Katherine Hepburn had this home---such a shame and more so to pretend that the interiors are anything at all reminescent of Miss Hepburn!
+Patrick Callahan In a previous video tour of this property (done by a real estate agent) it was stated that all seven of its fireplaces were original...but not much else. They totally gutted this property!! Even the exterior is not 100% original!!!
A cousin bou9ght a beautiful traditional home in upstate New York, gutted most if it and painted it all white and grey like this and now they are told they can't unload it - real estate folks recommended hiring a contractor to return some of the original look. Costly. . All white was a fad that, thankfully, is done. Unfortunately, they cannot restore this beautiful home to its original charm and beauty. looks like an out-of-date magazine add.
The owners really fixed it up! It did not look like this, and they have made it very fancy. Must be nice. Kate would prob not like it so fancy as she never changed it,but this is quite fancy.
This is actually quite sad. If they wanted a nouveau riche McMansion, they should have torn down the dignified old building and just started from scratch. What an embarrassment.
WITH ALL THAT WATER SURROUNDING THIS ESTATE I WONDER HOW IT FAIRS WHEN MAN MADE AND NATURAL DISASTERS OCCUR LIKE HURRICANES, TORNADOES, NOREASTER'S, TROPICAL STORMS AND WATER SPOUTS OCCUR? JUST HOW SAFE IS ANYONE LIVING IN THERE THROUGH ALL THESE WEATHER DISASTERS?.
The original family home was destroyed by the 1938 Long Island Hurricane- Hepburn watched as it sailed out to sea on the Long Island sound- it hit a jetty and some things were saved- google Hepburn and the 38 hurricane for more details....She rebuilt the family home and lived there primarily until her death in 2003. When rebuilding, they made the ground higher and built the sea wall and bulk headed the property.
I understand why many of you are upset, however Kates siblings visited the renovated house and liked many things. I get that it isn’t as cozy and “dark” as it was before but sooner or later one of the future owners would most likely choose to make the interior look way different. At least they didn’t change much of the exterior….
