Tag Archives: 157 Easton Road

Roundup: Dear Prudence, Camp A Cappella, More

Posted on August 21, 2020 | 6 comments

Last year, “06880” provided the back story to the Beatles’ “Dear Prudence.” John Lennon wrote the “White Album” song about Prudence Farrow — sister of Mia, daughter of actress Maureen O’Sullivan.

They all lived in Westport, though after casually attending Staples High School Prudence headed to the Himalayan foothills, to study transcendental meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. That’s where she met Lennon and George Harrison. The rest is musical history (and you can read it here).

Real estate history — or at least a nice sale — will be made soon. Prudence’s former property at 157 Easton Road is on the market.

As noted by the New York Post — hey, it was a slow news day — the owner (and landlord) for Prudence, Mia and her mom was Leopold Godowsky Jr.

He was quite famous himself: a concert violinist and photographer who helped develop Kodacolor and Ektachrome. His wife Frankie was a painter, singer — and the sister of George and Ira Gershwin.

The 2 3/4-acre property includes a 7,056-square foot main house with 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 2 half baths, 3 fireplaces, an indoor pool, wine cellar and a gym.

There are also two guesthouses. One has 2  bedrooms, a kitchen and fireplace (1,273 square feet). The other is a 1-bedroom, 1,031-square foot house, with a bathroom and fireplace.

The property also features tennis courts, a greenhouse and walking trails. I have no idea why Prudence left.

It’s all yours for $9 million. (Click here for the Post story. Hat tip: Fred Cantor)

157 Easton Road

More music: Staples grad Danielle Merlis’ popular Camp A Cappella concluded another great Zoom session. Most students were from Westport, but others checked in from New York, Massachusetts and Washington.

Another workshop begins Sunday (August 23). It includes 1-on-1 and group instruction. Click here for details.

So what’s it like to be part of a virtual singing camp? Seems pretty cool. Click the “final concert” video with students singing alongside the professional ensemble, Backtrack Vocals.

Sharkey’s Cuts for Kids is back to their normal business hours — and they’ve reached pre-COVID number.

There are plenty of new safety precautions. But as always, each child gets a token to put in a box for the charity of their choice. Sharkey’s makes donations in their name to:

  • NAACP
  • Connecticut Food Bank
  • Fairfield County Covid-19 Resiliency Fund
  • St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
  • Komen.org – Breast Cancer Foundation

For appointments, click here.

And finally … you knew this was coming, right?

 

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Posted in Arts, Children, Entertainment, Local business, Real estate

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Arnie’s Place

Posted on November 1, 2016 | 27 comments

A few weeks ago, “06880” highlighted 157 Easton Road. The 7-bedroom, 10-bath, 6-car garage, 2.75-acre property on the Aspetuck River — with a boathouse, indoor pool, 2 bars, wine-tasting room, guest quarters, tennis court, waterfalls, walking paths and stone bridges — was on the market.

The story focused on the home’s history. It was the longtime residence of Leopold Godowsky Jr. (a concert violinist with a passion for photography who set up a lab there, and helped develop Kodacolor and Ektachrome) and his wife, Frankie Gershwin (who in addition to being a noted painter and singer was also George and Ira’s younger sister). The Godowskys hosted guests like Richard Rodgers, John Hersey, Maureen O’Sullivan and Mia Farrow there.

157 Easton Road

157 Easton Road

That was intriguing enough. But a number of commenters noted that the house later belonged to another famous Westporter. Arnie Kaye was the larger-than-life (literally and metaphorically) owner of Arnie’s Place, a pioneering and legendary 1970s/’80s video arcade. Arnie also owned an ice cream parlor and delicatessen, regularly battled town officials, paid his taxes in pennies, and killed an intruder on his land.

157 Easton Road has finally been sold. The figure is eye-popping — and not in a good way.

It was listed at $3,599,000. The price — at auction — was $1,800,000.

Someone got Arnie’s place for a song.

And I don’t mean a Gershwin tune.

(Click here for the full real estate listing of this property.)

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Posted in Entertainment, Looking back, People, Real estate

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Historic Westport Home Hits The Auction Block

Posted on September 23, 2016 | 26 comments

Not many people realize the connection between Kodak and George Gershwin.

Fewer still know that both are connected to Westport

Leopold and Frankie Godowsky. (Photo/Zillow)

Leopold and Frankie Godowsky. (Photo/Zillow)

But Leopold Godowsky Jr. — a concert violinist with a passion for photography — moved here in the 1930s.  He set up a lab, and for several decades in town helped develop Kodacolor and Ektachrome.  Today he is considered a major contributor to the field of color photography.  He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005, 22 years after his death.

Godowsky’s wife, Frankie Gershwin — George and Ira’s younger sister — was a painter of oils and acrylics, and later a singer.  She too was a prominent Westporter.

In 2009 the Godowskys’ former home — a 7,000-square foot, low-slung compound at the end of Stony Point overlooking the confluence of the Saugatuck River and Long Island Sound, featuring pools, a waterfall, tennis court and dock — became one of the most expensive teardowns in Westport history.

Now the Godowskys’ previous house here — at 157 Easton Road — is on the market.

The 7-bedroom, 10-bath, 6-car garage property sits on 2.75 acres. There’s a boathouse, indoor pool, 2 bars, a wine-tasting room, guest quarters, tennis court, waterfalls, walking paths, and stone bridges. The Saugatuck Aspetuck River flows through the back yard.

157 Easton Road

157 Easton Road

The Godowskys moved to Easton Road from New York in 1938. Four children grew up there, before moving to Stony Point in the early 1950s.

Her parents entertained guests like local residents Richard Rodgers, John Hersey, Maureen O’Sullivan and her daughter Mia Farrow.

The house will be auctioned off on September 30.

It is not the place Nadia Godowsky Natali — Leopold and Frankie’s daughter — remembers.

Back then, she tells Zillow, it was “a country house. Very simple…not pretentious.” That place, she says, is gone.

How does Natali — now a California-based psychotherapist, author of “Cooking Off the Grid” and Zen center founder — know? She’s seen photos of the former “bucolic compound.”

They were digital, Zillow notes.

Not Kodachrome.

(Hat tip: Wendy Crowther)

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Posted in Entertainment, Looking back, People, Real estate

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