Catherine Marie Thomas

Little Edie Beale, 1972, the year Life Magazine discovered Jackie Kennedy’s aunt and cousin living in absolute squalor. When the HBO movie Grey Gardens starring Drew Barrymore came out a few years ago, I think almost every other design blog, including Cote de Texas, wrote about the Hampton’s beach house.  Just in case you missed the movie, Jacqueline Kennedy’s cousin and aunt – Little andRead Full Story

Grey Gardens Army Unite and Take Over! Proudly display your love, admiration and fascination for the Beales of Grey Gardens with these new t-shirts from Houdoolou.com The always amazing Little Edie — her numerous costumes, her many pronouncements, her “decorated” room — she was a staunch character, no doubt about it. Embrace her revolutionary spirit with this great t-shirt: And of course Big Edie- her incredible singing voice, her corn on the cob cooked on her bedside Sterno, and her rigid...Read Full Story

Drew Barrymore showed up at the Grey Gardens premiere in New York City wearing a curious fish net on her face. Drew otherwise looked great, in a nude-colored beaded gown and matching fur stol (which, of course, we hope is a fake). In the movie, Drew plays the reclusive and eccentric cousin of Jackie Onassis, Edie Bouvier Beale. Jessica Lang plays her mother “Big Edie.” more photos of Drew Barrymore after the hop… To get in character, Drew Barrymore had a very distinct, and lengthy process...Read Full Story

I've seen the posters up in the subway for HBO's movie "Grey Gardens," but I hadn't paid much attention until this morning. I was cyber-flipping through the New York Times Home & Garden section when a black and white thumbnail image of a dilapidated mansion captioned "Inside Grey Gardens" caught my attention. I clicked, and thus began my morning-long search on the back story and photos of this intriguing house.From the New York Times:A 1975 documentary captured the eccentric lives of Edith...Read Full Story

Based on the life stories of the eccentric aunt and first cousin of Jackie Kennedy, starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens tells the tender, intimate story of an eccentric mother and daughter (both named Edith Bouvier Beale aka "Big and Little Edie"). They were raised as Park Avenue débutantes but withdrew from New York society, taking shelter at their Long Island summer home, "Grey Gardens ." As their wealth and contact with the outside world dwindled, so did their grasp on...Read Full Story

One of my Blogosphere heroes, Joni Webb, writes the great blog Cote De Texas. Joni's an inspiration and always a good read. Her research is always as exhaustive as it is inspiring and last week she may have outdone herself.I've been fascinated by the story of Little Edie and Big Edie Bouvier-Beale for about as long as I can remember. Last week, Joni wrote a post that may well be the definitive story of the Beales and their home. Read A Pictorial History of Grey Gardens here.Read Full Story

Getty Images. Grey Gardens was a 1975 documentary that followed Edith "Big Edie" Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale in the early 1970s. The mother and daughter lived in complete isolation in a crumbling mansion in East Hamption, New York, until the National Enquirer and New York Magazine exposed the squalor of their living conditions, and Jacqueline Onassis paid for the home's renovation. The documentary became a cult classic and a source of style...Read Full Story

Just a short blog today to tell you about Veranda magazine and The House of Windsor.  I’m really loving Windsor Smith these days.   I love what she is doing in design – all shine and blues, silks and zebras, hand painted wallcoverings, and gray and white marble.  I only wish she was on Million Dollar Decorators, which by the way, if you aren’t watching you should!  It’s the best TV right nowRead Full Story

After watching Grey Gardens, it’s safe to rank Hollywood as the runner up for the place where dreams go to die. The real champion of this title is the estate of Edith Bouvier-Beale and her daughter Edie Bouvier-Beale, strategically sequestered in the Hamptons, in the only area isolated enough to contain the psychological fumes emanating from what is known as Grey Gardens. Now, just to avoid confusion, this film is not to be mistaken with the more recent butchering starring Drew Barrymore as...Read Full Story

Mother wanted me to come out in a kimono, so we had quite a fight. – Little Edith Bouvier Beale This past September, the HBO movie Grey Gardens was nominated for sixteen Emmys. It won six Emmys including, Best Actress Jessica Lange, Best Supporting Actor Ken Howard and Best Television Movie. It deserves it. This movie expands the world of Edie and Edith Beale (Drew Barrymore, Lange), the reclusive relatives of Jackie O that were captured in the Al and David Mayseles’ 1975 documentary. The...Read Full Story