Born in 1902, Tallulah Bankhead was an actress known for her quick wit and roles on stage as well as in Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat, but perhaps most for her very public personal life. Both while alive and after her death in 1968, people were enthralled, and some aghast, by her unapologetic partying, outrageous (back then) public statements, and eccentric lifestyle.
A rule-breaker of her time, this included smoking 150 cigarettes a day, keeping a lion cub (which was given to the Bronx Zoo once mature), and openly boasting of having had over 500 lovers, per the New Yorker. The actress once said, “If I were well behaved, I’d die of boredom.” Bankhead’s circa-1936 New York estate was the backdrop for much of her offstage antics, and, long after her ownership, it’s now on the market for $7.5 million.
According to a 1998 feature in Architectural Digest, this rural Pound Ridge haven was the closest thing to a permanent home the actress created. When she purchased it, the publication states it offered 17 acres and a brick house with abundant windows. Inspired by that characteristic, Bankhead named it Windows. Simple enough. She poured effort into making it the home she’d always craved, putting in the pool as well.
However, with Bankhead’s frequent entertaining, the house leaned toward chaotic. In AD’s almost 25-year-old piece, an old friend remembered Bankhead interviewing a potential butler. She told him of people frequently coming and going, how guests never wake up early, and of her parakeet that drank champagne. As for some of her expectations, she allegedly quipped to the interviewee, “I like a hot bath in the morning around three in the afternoon and breakfast on a tray.”
Today, along with ample stories, the property has grown to 40 acres and offers a total of 6,006 square feet of interiors. It can still accommodate a herd of visitors with six bedrooms in total and grounds perfect for everything from large events to scavenger hunts.
Legendary to be sure, Benjamin Ginnel and Cheryl Neuburger of Ginnel Real Estate have the listing.
