High Season: Andy Warhol and His ‘70s Montauk Summers (Famous Pals Included)
In the summer of 1971, and worlds away from his legendary Manhattan-based Factory, Pop Art’s native son Andy Warhol planted his roots on a sprawling clifftop ocean estate in Montauk; the once-sleepy fishing village situated along Long Island’s easternmost edge. Known as Eothen (French translation: “from the east”), the rustic 5.7-acre camp-like compound, designed by American architect Stanford White (which Warhol and his partner Paul Morrissey bought for $255,000) hosted a revolving door of famous visitors.
Several years of hefty spending to finance his Factory prompted Warhol to use Eothen as a rental property. His first tenant? The socialite Lee Radziwill, who in the summer of 1972 brought her sister Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and her two kids, Caroline and John Jr. (Radziwll noted Warhol loved entertaining children). To wit: Jackie Kennedy hired the avant-garde artist and poet Jonas Mekas to teach her children photography and filmmaking. In turn, Mekas captured the Kennedy kids with his 16mm Bolex camera. “They say my images are my memories. No no no! Every image, every detail, everything is real. Memories are gone, but images are here. And they’re real,” he said.
In 1975, The Rolling Stones arrived. Renting the estate for a paltry $5000, Keith Richards was known to make English breakfast tea in the kitchen while Mick Jagger was inspired by the nearby Memory Motel; a spot that spawned a song on the band’s Black and Blue album (Jagger and his then-wife Bianca were also regulars at the divey Shagwong Tavern; often feasting on clams and sips of Grand Marnier). Of course, Warhol and Craig Braun would later be part of the band’s creative process and the Sticky Fingers album cover of Jagger draped in skin-tight denim (Braun also designed the iconic splashy red “lips-mouth-tongue”logo.
“Mick Jagger really put Montauk on the map,” Warhol said in Bob Colacello’s 1979 book Exposures. “All the motels were overflowing with groupies. When Mick went into town everything stopped. Surfers chased him from White’s Drug Store to White’s Liquor Store.”
Despite Warhol’s flashy society image, the artist preferred spending time with his tape recorders and Polaroid cameras in Montauk; and often retiring early as his raucous guests partied and danced into the wee hours. “I love Mick and Bianca, but Jade’s more my speed,” he quipped about their young daughter. “I taught her how to color and she showed me how to play Monopoly. She was four and I was forty-four. Mick got jealous. He said I was a bad influence because I gave her champagne," Warhol said.
In the early 80s, Warhol rented one of his cottages to the hard-partying designer Halston, where plenty of debauchery followed. Also in the scene was photographer, society shaker and all-around ladies man Peter Beard, who had a ramshackle property next door (and tutored the Kennedy children in art history). In fact, Beard was responsible for many of the up-close-and-personal photographs out of Etheon. Other notable visitors included John Lennon and Yoko Ono alongside Liza Minelli, Catherine Deuenve, Lauren Hutton and Liz Taylor.
In 1987, Warhol died and Morrisey donated fifteen acres of their estate to a non-profit conservancy; while the remaining plot was sold to a private buyer. Fifteen minutes in Montauk? Perhaps. But like all good stories, the artistic, free-spirited Warholian legend lives on – as do the photographs.
Further Exploration
Exposures With Andy Warhol and Bob Colacello
This Side of Paradise Jonas Mekas : 1999, USA, 35 mins.
Ist Dibs: Warhol in Montauk photographs
