Less than a month ago, the home my husband and I enjoyed for over thirty years and worked on ceaselessly to maintain and keep up-to-date, went on the market for sale. The online buzz it has generated is nothing short of phenomenal. Millions and millions and millions of views, shares, likes, comments from every corner of the globe! Japan, Spain, Great Brittain and so on, in publications from Vanity Fair Italy and Elle Decor to Fox Business News (twice!) to the Wall Street Journal.
It is amazing to watch firsthand the power of the internet and social media. The secret to the splashy success of the home’s coverage is largely due to its previous occupants. Both Hollywood greats, Deborah Kerr and more notably perhaps, the legendary Audrey Hepburn, lived here during the height of their careers in the 1950s.
That makes me the second Audrey to inhabit this Los Angeles home, and honor the elegance and style of those stars through the interiors my husband and I created. As the online numbers keep growing and more publications pick up the history and photos of my home, I thank the iconic Audrey every day. And wonder in retrospect if it was her special warm vibe my husband and I felt upon entering the space for the first time. Thankfully, that special welcoming vibe has not changed.
Regardless, this surely is my touch with greatness. The first Audrey died in 1993, over thirty years ago, at a mere 63 years of age! Yet her mystique as measured by the views etc. clearly lives on in her great beauty, generosity of spirit, a certain vulnerability most likely related to her struggles during her youth in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands. Does all that explain her ability to draw people, still today?
I’m glad this house is providing other generations a chance to learn who the great Audrey Hepburn was. And I’m humbled and grateful for the comments made on the interiors created by my husband and myself that “reflect her notable style.” It was truly a labor of love for us both.