Truman Capote's Bridgehampton Beach House
Then and now.
Just a quick hello over here. I was factchecking a line in my next novel: “Felix had been giddy when they’d spotted Truman Capote at the bar.” What I needed to confirm was if Truman Capote would in fact be at a restaurant in Bridgehampton in 1977. Ding, ding, ding. Look at this amazing photo of Capote surrounded by society ladies in the Hamptons in the 1960s! He mostly spent the off season out there writing by the sea and remained there on and off until his death in 1984.
Capote would rise early and work for four hours, reading the papers for a break. He’d have lunch around one, walk the dog and run errands in the afternoon. According to one article I read, “Dinner was at 7 PM and if there were no parties, he would be in bed by 9:30, retiring with a book. Work or no work, if the sun became unbearable, Truman would drive over to Southampton and have a swim in Gloria Vanderbilt's pool-whether or not she was in residence.”
That’s when I came across these photos of his beach house in Sagaponack, a quiet and pretty oceanfront town in the Hamptons, in Architectural Digest. Here’s a photo of his house then (1976) and now (the house recently underwent a renovation and is 5,000 square feet and worth $13 million).
Isn’t it neat to imagine the author writing In Cold Blood while sitting in that screened porch? He wrote Breakfast at Tiffany’s in a basement apartment at 70 Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights.
In the end, the answer to my factchecking question was yes, it was completely feasible that my characters may have run into him at the bar in Bobby Van’s in Bridgehampton. Score!
Love this! xoxo
So fun! Love seeing how his house has transformed over the years. So happy your research ended with a "score!"
Love this. I dream of writer beach houses. But SO few writers can afford such a place.