Saturday, January 8, 2011

Katharine Hepburn at One Degree of Separation

The actress Katharine Hepburn grew up in Hartford and maintained ties to Hartford and Connecticut through her long life.

Hepburn's sister Marion Hepburn Grant lived in this West Hartford house for decades, down the street from where I live.  Hepburn frequently visited for holidays. 

In her old age, Katharine Hepburn was in a serious automobile accident.  She spent months recovering in this home under the care of her sister and brother-in-law. 

I looked often but never saw her there.
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21 comments:

  1. Dave-CostaRicaDailyPhoto.comJanuary 8, 2011 at 8:16 AM

    I had heard that West Hartford is a very nice suburb, and your photo certainly bears witness to that.

    Interesting story about Katherine Hepburn. It reminds me of visiting a friend of mine who lives in a house on the north end of South Beach, Miami. He pointed out a neighboring house that was the childhood home of Barbara Walters, or my brother in Hibbing, Minnesota, who lived a couple of blocks from Bob Dylan's boyhood home.

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  2. PatriziaJanuary 8, 2011 at 8:42 AM

    Beautiful house and picture!

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  3. Stefan JanssonJanuary 8, 2011 at 8:55 AM

    Nicely designed house and an interesting story about the great actress.

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  4. MichelleJanuary 8, 2011 at 9:00 AM

    Interesting info about Katherine. Lovely home.

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  5. VPJanuary 8, 2011 at 10:18 AM

    I didn't know of this interesting connection, the house is really great.

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  6. Regina KJanuary 8, 2011 at 10:43 AM

    Beautiful house, I would love to see inside. Jack, have a good weekend.

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  7. SharonJanuary 8, 2011 at 11:08 AM

    It is a beautiful home befitting of such an American icon!

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  8. Youth_in_AsiaJanuary 8, 2011 at 11:08 AM

    Interesting story. I love that house, regardless of who lived in it. Having a back story like that is just icing on the cake.

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  9. RedPatJanuary 8, 2011 at 1:35 PM

    Looks so Connecticut to me - lovely house and great story!

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  10. Leif HagenJanuary 8, 2011 at 3:27 PM

    You came so close to having a very famous actress as your best friend! But I'll be your friend and I'm very famous.....ha!

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  11. Cezar and LéiaJanuary 8, 2011 at 3:55 PM

    Wow it's so interesting!The houses are beautiful!
    Léia

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  12. LowellJanuary 8, 2011 at 5:03 PM

    Beautiful Connecticut home! I'm surprised that you didn't just walk up and knock on the door and say, "Hi, I'm Jack. Is Katherine home?"

    I'm also surprised at your lack of verbiage on Ocala DP this morning! :-) Sometimes, though, silence is the better part of valor (or something like that!)

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  13. MoJanuary 8, 2011 at 5:34 PM

    Wow really interesting. Place suits her i think

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  14. jennyfrecklesJanuary 8, 2011 at 5:56 PM

    Interesting post, Jack. They look very gracious houses - a nice place to convalesce.

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  15. HalcyonJanuary 8, 2011 at 6:10 PM

    What a neat house with a great history. I'm sorry you never saw her. She was a great lady (at least in the movies).

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  16. EG CameraGirlJanuary 8, 2011 at 7:43 PM

    You live in a nice neighbourhood!

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  17. RandyJanuary 8, 2011 at 11:00 PM

    What a beautiful home!

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  18. TashJanuary 9, 2011 at 1:37 AM

    I read her bio & autobio 20 some years ago...now I will have to read bits again to see what she says about Hartford. An absolutely gorgeous house.

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  19. SRQJanuary 9, 2011 at 10:26 AM

    Beautiful. If one must convalesce, this wouldn't be a bad place to do it.

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  20. UnknownJanuary 9, 2011 at 2:32 PM

    Katherine Hepburn was and still is one of my Hollywood favourites. She was so classy! And that's a lovely house.

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  21. tapirgalJanuary 13, 2011 at 10:00 PM

    It's nice to see this. I can't remember now if it was a book or documentary . . . yes, the latter, I think . . . where I learned about her. This is a wonderful illustration - beautiful buildings and setting.

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