danemodsandy
Well-known member
Yes, the woman in the photo is who you think it is - Katharine Hepburn. I was working on an article about her and found this photo taken about 1981. It's of Hepburn puttering about the kitchen at Fenwick, her 1939 house in Old Saybrook, CT.
One of the things that has emerged in my research was that Hepburn had some of the habits of old, old money; she used things until they wore out, not until they were "dated" (dreadful real-estate agent's word, that).
The photo shows cabinets built in situ by a cabinet maker, a floor that looks like terra-cotta tiles, and a motley collection of kitchen things that had been there forever. The effects of salt air can be seen on the cabinets closest to Hepburn.
It all adds up to something used for forty years, never really "updated," and never coddled; this was a house meant for living in, not worrying over.
At any rate, does anyone have any idea what that behemoth of a range is? Could it have been original to the 1939 construction date of the house, which replaced a Hepburn family home destroyed in a monster 1938 hurricane?
One of the things that has emerged in my research was that Hepburn had some of the habits of old, old money; she used things until they wore out, not until they were "dated" (dreadful real-estate agent's word, that).
The photo shows cabinets built in situ by a cabinet maker, a floor that looks like terra-cotta tiles, and a motley collection of kitchen things that had been there forever. The effects of salt air can be seen on the cabinets closest to Hepburn.
It all adds up to something used for forty years, never really "updated," and never coddled; this was a house meant for living in, not worrying over.
At any rate, does anyone have any idea what that behemoth of a range is? Could it have been original to the 1939 construction date of the house, which replaced a Hepburn family home destroyed in a monster 1938 hurricane?
