Nobody wants to buy the most infamous house in the Hamptons, but American Express is renting it for the summer

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June 27, 2017 5:02 PM

The home from "Grey Gardens" still hasn't found a buyer, but it will be a busy place this summer.

Grey Gardens inspired a documentary and a Broadway play of the same name.

Grey Gardens has gone corporate. The home — perhaps one of the most infamous in the Hamptons — will be rented all summer by American Express, which plans to use it for special events, according to the New York Post.

The Michelin-starred restaurant Eleven Madison Park is said to be involved in the deal, but details, including the monthly rental price, are scarce.

It's still up for sale with a discounted price of $18 million — $2 million less than the owners of the home originally asked for when it listed in February. The Corcoran Group has the listing.

Anyone who saw the "Grey Gardens" documentary or Broadway play would most likely balk at living in the home it was inspired by — it was in incredibly poor shape during the filming of the documentary, and it's even rumored to be haunted.

However, the East Hampton mansion now looks nothing like it did in the 1975 documentary, which showcased the lives of Jackie Kennedy Onassis' former socialite relatives.

The journalist and author Sally Quinn purchased the mansion with her husband, the Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, for $220,000 in 1979. They rehabilitated it to its current splendor, according to The New York Times.

The home has the slate exterior typical of Hamptons homes.

Walk past the sizable porch ...

... and enter a home of stately beauty.

The interior, especially, is a far cry from the "Grey Gardens" of yore.

It's all typical Hamptons charm.

When Quinn renovated the home, she kept much of the skeleton of the building. The listing says it was "restored with an eye to history."

The furniture is original and was restored by Quinn after she found it in the attic.

Movie posters are hung up around the home, alluding to its famous past.

The home has a rich history and is older than most in the area.

It was built in 1897, before things like in-home theaters were commonplace.

"This home will not be attractive to a Russian oligarch," Quinn told The New York Times.

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