Cousin Katherine Hepburn’s house
This house belonged to my cousin, Katherine Hepburn.
What? I’ve never told you about Cousin Kate?
Well, actually, Katherine and I were only recently acquainted by ancestry.com, and they confirmed she and I had the same Grandmother. Well, great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother to me, and great-great-great-great-great-grandmother to her. (That’s eight generations for me and five for Kate).
Have you ever played around on one of these ancestry web sites? It’s absolutely fascinating. I’m not sure if Katherine and I would have seen eye to eye on some issues, but on decorating, we’re practically twins!
If only we had known of our close family ties, perhaps I would have been invited to stay in this fabulous house of hers in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. I would have even offered to make a big pot of grits for us in this kitchen . . . but I would have made her wash the pot.
The house was sold last year for somewhere in the range of about $14.8 million, and was owned not only by Katherine Hepburn as an adult, but was also her parent’s home when she was a little girl, so she grew up playing here. Forget visiting, I should have inherited it, don’t you think?
Ahhh. This would have been “my” guest room.
This is the master bedroom. The entire house was completely renovated in 2005 with updates in technology added without disturbing the original, classic details.
This is the third floor landing which leads to two more bedrooms for a total of six.
A practical potting room would have allowed us to share seeds passed down from our dearest Grand-ma-ma’s garden.
If only I had known of my link to Katherine Hepburn before her death in 2003. Think of all the fun we would have had! 
And as one more weird coincidence, long before I knew of this very distant relation, I dressed up as the older Katherine Hepburn (think On Golden Pond) for a costume party once. Strange costume, and I can’t remember the theme. Maybe it was, “Come as someone you may discover you are related to when genealogy computer software is invented someday” party. And also weird – she and I were/are the exact same height and weight (give or take a sporadic dessert or two)!
To see a few more photos of this lovely house, click HERE, and do -tell, what was your favorite movie my cousin made? (Mine is Woman of the Year).
Now that you mention it I can certainly see the family resemblance . The house is amazing but my first thought was “wow, that would be a lot of walking”.
And don’t forget cleaning. But then again, there’s the staff . . .
Okay I have to agree with Carrie there is a family resemblance. I did see that house for sale last year…my sister subscribes to Sotheby’s and I am fairly certain I saw it there. An amazing home and what a great story…even if you are 17 times removed, an invite would have been nice.
A weekend at the shore with Kate would have been greatly appreciated. I mean, if I had known, I could have invited her down here to Alabama and shown her a good old time!
Well, there you go. Two classy ladies.
Awwww!
Of course you two are related! I am not surprised at all! I just loved her and that house is my dream house. I love every inch of it. You should call her lawyer – she may have left you this house. Enjoy your week.
I’m sure her lawyer would quickly put me on the “do not answer” list!
Now why does this not surprise me? I have always been fascinated with this house. How unfortunate that you never got to visit. I think I loved her most in “The Lion in Winter.”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen that one. Adding to my “watch list” now!
Your cousin Kate’s home is gorgeous! Too bad ya’ll never had the opportunity to bond over that big pot of grits in the beautiful kitchen! 😉 A couple of months ago, I started researching our family tree. Some of things I found out were really neat, others should remain “skeletons in the family closet!” Ha! One particular family member supposedly came over with the Mayflower and signed the Mayflower Pact. But when my dad was looking over the lineage line, he didn’t think it was truly ours. What a bummer! For a few days I was relishing in the shadow of what i thought was my long great grandaddy! lol
Researching a family tree can indeed be full of surprises. I found relatives on the Mayflower, but it turned out to be the big 18-wheel Mayflower moving trucks as they came into Alabama!
HA! I have relatives like that, too….but we’re in Georgia!
Doesn’t surprise me a bit Leslie Ann, of course you and Katherine have the same sassy style!
Sweet sassy molassy!
What a drop-dead gorgeous house! We might have to take turns with the guest room, though. That view is worth a million dollars. I love everything about this house and adored your lovely cousin, Katherine 🙂
I just think it’s cool that she grew up there and it wasn’t just a fancy-pants Hollywood purchase.
During my childhood – 6th, 7th and 8th grade – I lived in Old Saybrook. My dearest friend, Cindy, lived in a gorgeous 3-story home kitty-corner from Kate’s house. Cindy’s parents were pals with Kate. I never had the opportunity to meet her but do remember seeing her puttering around her property. Because of this connection, and because of her amazing talent, I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Miss Hepburn. But to be related to her?!?!?!? How cool is that?
[…] may remember from a previous story (HERE) that I discoverd I’m a cousin to Katherine Hepburn and I felt slighted I didn’t […]