Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born on the Connecticut River, at Hartford, May 12, 1907. She died in her home at the river's mouth, in the Borough of Fenwick, Old Saybrook, on June 29, 2003. Her family's summer home is right at the mouth of the river, where it meets Long Island Sound, within sight of the Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse. In her will, she left a parcel of land for public purposes. The Hepburn family's summer home, in which is set Matthew Lombardo's play "Tea at Five" will be sold, $12 million asked..
U.S.A. Today takes us on a virtual tour of Hepburn's house and home, once very private, and about the sidewalks and shops of the village she chose to be her final home. They offer a slide show of the house exterior and the Borough.
Pulitzer Prize winner A. Scott Berg's account of his two-decade friendship with Ms. Hepburn, "Kate Remembered (Putnam, 2003), was published 13 days after her death at age 96. U.S.A Today offers the opportunity to (read the first chapter from Kate Remembered.)
With 19 rooms, eight bathrooms, a screened patio and a four-car garage, the Fenwick house was ample for Kate. It needs some work, they say, and is virtually at sea level. In fact, it was washed away in the Hurricane of '38. The Hepburns rebuilt it, of course, in brick this time, and now it depends on the kindness of strangers.
DougSimpson.com/river
Posted by dougsimpson at September 4, 2003 12:36 PM | TrackBack