East Hampton Village to Ax Amex Event at Grey Gardens
A jewelry sale that was to be held Friday at Grey Gardens, the West End Road residence made famous by its connection to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and a 1975 documentary about its inhabitants, has raised questions about the use of private houses for commercial ventures.
Wednesday morning, East Hampton Village officials sent a cease-and-desist letter to American Express, which has rented the property, and the Sally Quinn Trust, which owns it, stating that such a sale would violate the village’s zoning code.
By the afternoon, the village had been advised that the sale will be relocated outside of village limits.
An invitation to “the iconic Grey Gardens Estate” for “an afternoon of shopping” with the jewelry designer Jennifer Fisher that was to take place from 2 to 5 p.m. was distributed last week. The sale was also advertised in print media. The invitation lists American Express Platinum as the host.
“What they are planning to do does violate village code,” Rebecca Hansen, the village administrator, said on Monday. Ms. Hansen said that village officials had learned of the jewelry sale on Friday afternoon. “We have informed the jewelry company that retail shows are not allowed in residential areas, and asked them to relocate,” she said. “What they are looking to do is not permitted.”
On Tuesday, Ms. Hansen said that representatives of American Express had contacted Village Hall that day. “We conveyed our concerns to them,” she said, “and there seems to be a differing of opinion on what will be transpiring there this summer.”
The cease-and-desist letter, signed by Kent Howie, a code enforcement officer, informed the owner and tenant that, “As provided in village zoning code, with the sole exception of home professional offices, home occupations traditionally conducted by owners in a portion of their residence, and plant nurseries, no commercial uses of land are permitted in any residential district of the village either by right or by special permit. Accordingly, you are hereby ordered to cease and desist all commercial activities in this residential district.”
Sally Quinn, a journalist who writes for The Washington Post, bought and restored the property with her husband, the late Ben Bradlee, The Post’s longtime editor, in 1979. The nine-bedroom house is listed for sale on the Corcoran Group’s website at $17.995 million. The initial asking price was $19.995 million.
Grey Gardens was a shambles when Ms. Quinn and Mr. Bradlee bought it for $225,000. Its previous occupants were an aunt and cousin of Ms. Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill, Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, also named Edith. The Beales, who had lived there in increasing states of squalor over four decades, were nearly evicted by the Village of East Hampton in 1971. Interest in their story sparked a 1976 documentary by Albert and David Maysles, “Grey Gardens,” a musical by the same name that premiered in New York City in 2006, a 2009 HBO film starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore, and numerous other smaller projects all lending to the intrigue around the property.
As of Tuesday afternoon, East Hampton Village expected American Express to continue with plans for the jewelry sale Friday, “but we’ll see what happens after they receive the letter,” Ms. Hansen said. “If the village continues to feel that events that are in violation of code are carrying on, the village shall seek recourse in the courts.” Calls and emails to American Express officials in Manhattan had not been returned as of noon Wednesday.
American Express has another presence in East Hampton this year: The company has partnered with Eleven Madison Park, a Manhattan restaurant that is closed for renovations, to open a pop-up called EMP Summer House, on the Pantigo Road site that most recently housed Moby’s. Reservations are exclusive to American Express card members.