Grey Gardens is getting new tenants. Starting in September, Boykin Curry and Celerie Kemble, along with their children, Rascal and Zinnia, will be taking on a five-year lease for the iconic East Hampton estate. “I can’t think of a more perfect fit,” says Sally Quinn, who owns the property with her husband, Ben Bradlee. Ever since the couple bought Grey Gardens from Little Edie Beale in 1979, they have rented it out, save for the month of August when they use the home. The last inhabitants, Quinn said, lived there for 12 years. Curry and Kemble’s five-year contract is the lengthiest that’s been issued. Neither party disclosed the rental price, but in May it was rumored Quinn and Bradlee were asking $30,000 for Aug. 28 through Sept. 7 alone.
“I don’t think of myself as a Hamptons person,” admits Kemble, who typically spends summer weekends at her family homes in the Adirondacks and Palm Beach. “But Boykin was able to convince me, even sight unseen, that this house was truly an oasis. It’s like a secret garden.” And as an interior decorator, she couldn’t wish for more. “I believe a house should have personality, and Grey Gardens is one of the greatest and most graceful of characters I can imagine out there,” Kemble says.