The houses that inspired The Great Gatsby
image from: http://affordablehousinginstitute.org/
In the spring of 2011 word broke that the massive mansion which had inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald’s magnum opus The Great Gatsby, was being demolished.
Since public interest in the novel has piqued again in 2013 with the recent release of the latest Great Gatsby movie, I thought I would revisit the fictional ”West Egg” and try to find out the story behind the house that inspired the classic American novel.
Turns out, there was not just one house that Gatsby’s mansion was modeled after, but several historic homes - some that no longer exist.
According to Wikipedia, author F. Scott Fitzgerald visited New York’s Long Island north shore often during the early 1920′s and attended a number of lavish parties at mansions there. There are several theories among literary historians as to which mansion inspired Gatsby’s fictional home.
One possibility is Land’s End, a notable Gold Coast Mansion where F. Scott Fitzgerald may have attended a party.
image from: http://www.oldlongisland.com/
Built in 1902 by a newspaper editor, Land’s End was yet another example of a monument of the Gilded Age. Many legendary parties were held there after the first World War, and it is documented that several famous individuals came to call including Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein.
Land’s End was the unfortunate estate that was demolished in April of 2011. Apparently, the owner could not afford to keep it up and it fell into disrepair.
image from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
The owner decided that it was more cost-effective to have the home torn-down and to subdivide/sell the property into smaller lot parcels. Despite the outcry from local historians and literature lovers around the world, Land’s End was no more by late April 2011.
[if you are upset by images of historic mansions being ripped apart, look away from the screen now]
image from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/
Sacrilege.
Another possible inspiration for a setting in Fitzgerald’s novel was also demolished, albeit many decades ago. Beacon Towers stood on the coast at Sands Point from 1917 until 1945 when it was torn down by none other than William Randolph Hearst to make way for a newer development.
Beacon Towers in 1922:
image from: Wikimedia Commons (author: Harris & Ewing)
The Great Gatsby mansion was also said to be inspired by Oheka Castle on the Gold Coast of Long Island. Oheka Castle was built between 1814 and 1919. It was (and remains) the second largest private residence in the United States, measuring in at a whopping 109,000 square feet.
Oheka Castle:
image from: Wikimedia Commons (author: Gryffindor)
The reality of fiction is that it is usually based on real life, but only loosely. I say that as both a fiction writer and an avid reader. Fictional settings are mostly a mish-mash compilation of locations that the author experienced in real life and I suspect this is the case with The Great Gatsby.
F. Scott Fitzgerald never admitted that one particular mansion was the inspiration for either Gatsby’s lavish home, or Daisy’s old-money estate across the water.
We’ll never know for sure, but it’s sure is fun to look at these ostentatious old homes that still retain echoes of the storied Jazz Age.
The Great Gatsby, original cover art
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Sources and further reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby:
http://www.ovtg.de/3_arbeit/englisch/gatsby/minut_03.html
http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=15572
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/10/travel/gatsby-gold-coast-long-island/index.html?hpt=hp_c4
Update on my house that won’t sell
Yes, the darn thing is still for sale.
photo credit: Sarah Felix Burns
“But it’s so cute! I can’t believe it hasn’t sold yet!”
If I had a penny for every time I heard that, I could have my mortgage paid off by now.
“I LOVE that house! I would buy it in a second if I was in the position to buy!”
Apparently, a lot of people are not in a position to buy. We’ve had offers, and close-to-offers, but either the potential buyers can’t get financing, have a house that they need to sell first, or just get cold feet for God knows why – like the buyers who walked last summer.
“Why do you think it hasn’t sold yet?”
Bad luck? Retribution for sins in a past life? The universe conspiring against me? I’m starting to sound really paranoid here. But the prevailing theory is that the house does not want us to sell it.
photo credit: Sarah Felix Burns
“Why don’t you rent it out – no wait, renters would trash that historic home.”
Yep, in these parts some renters tend to um, wreck houses. I know it’s not PC to generalize so I’m just saying some renters around here. Maybe renters where you live don’t steal door knobs, cook meth in the bathtub, and throw trash in the backyard, but they do here, unfortunately.
“Can’t you just lower the price?”
Been there, Done that. Thrice. We are at the point where we are almost at the same price that we bought the house for in 2010. We are losing money on the place and just want to come away with our shirts on at this point.
photo credit: Sarah Felix Burns
“Why don’t you hold an open house?”
Tried that myself a couple of weekends ago. The only people who showed up just LOVED the house but were not in a position to buy. And they wanted to come see why this amazing house hasn’t sold yet. And they couldn’t figure out why this adorable house hasn’t sold yet.
Amazing before and after of a 1912 Craftsman
image from: http://www.laurelhurstcraftsman.com
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image from: http://www.laurelhurstcraftsman.com
In 2010 Jeff and Sharon Kidder purchased this 1912 bungalow in Portland, Oregon. The house was in decent shape but many of the original features had been obscured over the years as successive homeowners left their updating marks. Remember a few years back when it was all the rage to “lighten up” old dark wood in vintage craftsman homes by painting it all white?
Case in point: the house’s entryway when Jeff & Karen bought it…
The Playboy Bunny house is up for sale
image from: http://www.estately.com
The Playboy Bunny house (right across the street from Hugh Hefner’s infamous Tudor-style home) is for sale!
image from: http://www.estately.com
I used to watch The Girls Next Door just because I loved this mid-century house so much – well, okay… Holly, Kendra, Bridget and Hef were a kick too. As the E! channel reality show portrayed, this house was essentially used as a guest house for Playboy Bunnies-in-training.
image from: http://www.estately.com
This was the house where, up until recently, aspiring Playboy models stayed while visiting LA for their photo shoots. The mid-century rancher in the posh Holmby Hills neighborhood has hosted many a centerfold in its heyday.
My favorite Hobbit House in Vancouver is for sale!
image from: www.cbc.ca
I was surprised to learn that one of my all-time favorite houses – we’re talking going back to college years here folks - in Vancouver British Columbia is for sale! Not necessarily a good thing because it is at risk of being torn down and replaced with some massive modern McMansion.
This was the VERY FIRST house that caught my eye the day I moved to Vancouver. I remember my parents commenting on the distinctive wavy roof because we had never seen anything like it before.
A couple years later, I lived in an attic apartment literally four blocks away from this house during my last two years of university in the late 1990′s.
I drove by this house every day as I took the bus to the University of British Columbia. I walked by it countless times with armloads of groceries. Being a life-long house nut, I was naturally smitten with this little cutie and always wondered what lucky soul lived there.
image from: www.vancitybuzz.com
It turns out the house was owned by an elderly lady who passed away in November 2012. Her heirs are selling off her estate so the home is now up for sale for the first time in many years.
