The Steeple Times

Tag: United States

  • Let there be light!

    Let there be light!

    Thomas James examines the Luzinterruptus art movement

     

    Luzinterruptus is a Spanish artistic group, who create temporary urban interventions in public spaces. Using light as their primary component and the black of night as their canvas, the group consists of three anonymous artists from different artistic backgrounds. Interestingly, the artistic group’s name Luzinterruptus is of Latin origin and means: “Interrupted light.”

     

    The group’s first artistic “urban intervention” took place on the streets of Madrid in 2008. The motive for it was to focus peoples’ attention on a problem they found in the city that seemed to go unnoticed. Some 50% of Madrid’s public drinking fountains have fallen into disrepair and Luzinterruptus wanted to address the city’s administration’s indifference to the need for public drinking water. With their installation, “Drinking Water Running Through The Streets,” they sought to provoke thought and highlight the issue.

     

    Drinking Water Running Through The Streets

    To create it, 200 glass containers were collected over the course of 4 months and these were used to fill four fountains with their signature luminous work. The installation lit up the city on a cold night in January and attracted great media interest.

     

    Plastic garbage guarding the museum

    Another fascinating work by the collective was named “Plastic garbage guarding the museum.” Installed directly in front of the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur in Switzerland, this featured approximately 5,000 plastic bags. They selected the most vibrant and colourful ones from those they had collected, filled each with air and lit them from within. Piled up in a dumpster, they looked more like treasures one would find in Santa’s sleigh. The installation was designed to provoke discussion about consumption and the issue of what damage not disposing of carrier bags properly does to the environment. The plastic bags deflated and deteriorated during the four-month installation and this was said to symbolise consumption and waste, as well as highlighting the damaging effects of mindless consumption. Luzinterruptus proceeded to give visitors to the exhibit an illuminated plastic bag to take away. Their aim by doing such was to: “Fill the sk[ies] with small plasticised full moons.”

     

    1,000 poems by mail

    Luzinterruptus’s installation “1,000 poems by mail” was created for the “2010 poetas pr Km²” Spanish poetry festival in Madrid uniting light, literature, and public space. 1,000 white envelopes, each containing a small light and a poem written by one of 17 poets, were hung in the gardens where the poetry readings and performances happened. The radiant envelopes illuminated the gardens for three days and added atmosphere to the festival – especially at night. On the final evening, the envelopes were given to the public to keep or to send to someone special. Afterwards, Luzinterruptus mailed out the envelopes with their lights still burning bright.

     

    Literature versus Traffic

    This summer at the Federation Square in Melbourne, Luzinterruptus placed 10,000 illuminated books, which they acquired from local libraries, across the ground during a festival dedicated to reading. They placed LED lights behind the pages of each book to illuminate the printed words. The installation entitled “Literature versus Traffic” was created to portray a winding river going along the streets of the bustling public square. “The objective was to create a symbolic gesture in which literature took control of the streets and became the conqueror of the public space,” one the anonymous artists explained.

     

    Look out. A Luzinterruptus exhibition could be interrupting the streets of your city soon. It’ll certainly be cleverly planned and it will definitely provoke you to think about whatever issue they decide to focus on next.

     

    View the website of Luzinterruptus at: http://www.luzinterruptus.com

     

    View Thomas James’s blog, The Gentledaneur, at: http://thegentleman-dandy-flaneur.tumblr.com

     

    Follow Thomas James on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/thomasjames124

     

  • Nicholas Gruber: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    Nicholas Gruber: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    The Steeple Times asks model and personality Nicholas Gruber: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

     

    The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom.” What’s your guiding force?

    I try to learn something from everyone I meet.

     

    “Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

    Life is short so enjoy a part of every day, even the shitty ones.

     

    Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2012?

    Picking on anyone less fortunate than you. That’s why the Republicans lost the election in the US.

     

    Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

    My grandmother, Judy Bolduc. She was the first lesbian in California to adopt a child, my dad.

     

    What might you swap all your wealth for?

    Honey, pick up a paper: I did that already for some freedom.

     

    Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank.” What’s your view on the banking crisis?

    Greed is never good in any way, shape or form.

     

    What phrase or word do you most loathe?

    “Thank you so much.” It seems insincere whereas just “thank you” seems genuine.

     

    In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home.” What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

    Toys for Tots because I know first hand what it feels like to be a kid with nothing under the tree.

     

    The judge in “Law Abiding Citizen” states: “I can pretty do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

    It is only appropriate to blow up terrorists.

     

    If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

    My new boyfriend, John Luciano, and my former one, Calvin Klein. Now, that would be one hell of a ride.

     

    Nicholas Gruber

    If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

    Pasta from Bar Pitti.  Two helpings. Plus a slice of German chocolate cake.

     

    What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

    I’m sober so for me that would be noon. Joking. I don’t drink but I also don’t judge.

     

    A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

    None of the above. I will take a coconut water please.

     

    Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

    Calvin Klein.  He might be three times my age but he can party like a rock star.

     

    Who is the most positive person you know?

    A tie between Calvin and John. They both believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.

     

    What’s your most guilty pleasure?

    Having a mob related boyfriend who allows me to have girlfriends.

     

    If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

    A glass that was half full because that’s how I roll.

     

    If you were a car, what marque would you be?

    A smiley face.

     

    Cilla Black presented “Surprise, Surprise.” Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

    I’m straight but bang guys.

     

    What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

    Nothing. It’s all about no clutter.

     

     

    Follow Nicholas Gruber on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/NicholasGruber

  • A Gipsy flies

    A Gipsy flies

    The story of a 1929 bi-plane with a truly fascinating pedigree

     

    Britain’s best-known wartime Prime Minister piloted a Gipsy Moth aeroplane that will be sold by auctioneers Bonhams in February 2013 at a guide of £120,000. The same craft was also featured in an iconic 1980s film and was also supposedly flown by a member of the Fiennes family who mysteriously disappeared in 1998.

     

    The 1929 De Havilland DH 60 GMW Gipsy Moth bi-plane G-AAMY that will be sold by Bonhams at the Grand Palais in Paris in February 2013
    Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965)

    Piloted several times by Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) and used in the Oscar award winning Out of Africa, this 1929 De Havilland Gipsy Moth bi-plane is 24-foot long and has a 30-foot wingspan. It is capable of a maximum speed of 105mph and “wears” a yellow and black livery. It’s registration is G-AAMY in homage to the pioneering English aviatrix Amy Johnson (1903 – 1941).

     

    In the film, the plane was flown by Robert Redford but though the life of the big game hunter Denys Finch Hatton he played is intriguing; the exploits of Redford’s aviator double are just as fascinating a story.

     

    Sydney Pollack’s “Out of Africa” (1985) starred Robert Redford and Meryl Streep
    Tom Danaher pictured whilst filming with Mel Gibson

    Few outside of the aviation world will have heard of Tom Danaher (1929 – ) but aside from Out of Africa, he’s pretty much done it all. After graduating from a high school in Dallas in 1941, he became a Marine Corps fighter pilot. Stationed on Okiwana in August 1945, he shot down the last Japanese bomber on the final night of the Second World War and also made history, aged 21, for downing three other Japanese “Betty” bombers in the eight nights before the ceasefire.

     

    Recalled to active service in 1951, Danaher flew one of the earliest jets, the F3D Skynight, with the Marines in Korea on night combat patrols and then was part of the last combat mission on a high altitude bombing strike over Pyongyang, North Korea in July 1953.

     

    Danaher’s passion for flying continued after the war and in 1954 he flew his own plane, a 1948 Bonanza, to England to visit friends he’d made from the RAF whilst in Korea. To make the journey, he built a 109-gallon auxiliary fuel tank so that he could fly straight across the Atlantic. On the way home he called in for an audience with Pope Pius XII in Rome.

     

    The surplus Second World War minesweeper from which Wonderful Radio London operated in the 1960s

    Danaher’s visits to England led to him becoming involved in a pirate radio station in from 1944 to 1967 named Wonderful Radio London. Like many others, Danaher was not impressed by the BBC’s monopolistic attitude to radio programming and so helped build a 17,000-watt station on a surplus Second World War minesweeper. It was anchored three and a half miles off the English coast and outside of Britain’s territorial limit. Of the experience, Danaher told Airport Journals:

     

    “We had someone in Dallas who would record KLIF, a top 40 station, and we put it right on the air… The Englishmen over there just ate it up… The station programmed news and top 40 music and was very successful. It had the largest listening audience of any of any commercial broadcast station at the time.”

     

    Back in America, Danaher owned three car dealerships in Wichita Falls, Texas but sold them in 1972 to open his own airport, the Tom Danaher Airport. Lake Wichita Airport (7TXO), as it was also known, kept the aviator busy but he has also piloted in films numbering Empire of the Sun, Sky Bandits, Air America, Bad Medicine, The Pleasure of Love, White Hunter Black Heart, Cliffhanger and Goldeneye.

     

    In 1985, Danaher was recruited to fly Gipsy Moth G-AAMY by Sydney Pollack (1934 – 2008), the American director of Out of Africa. He recounted his six week experience on set in Masai Mara, Kenya in an interview for his local Texan newspaper, the TimesRecordNews, in 2008. Here, he highlighted the problems of trying to film with a vintage plane that “has no brakes and is difficult to steer”:

     

    “Robert Redford couldn’t make the thing turn. It took considerable finesse to turn it on the ground… The third time, he gave it full throttle… The left wing contacted a thick thorn bush and it tore some of the fabric off the lower left wing of the plane. We couldn’t fly it the rest of the day.”

     

    Other dramas arose with G-AAMY in terms of Meryl Streep’s body double refusing to fly in it and the craft struggling to reach the high altitudes necessary to film a sweeping shot of the plane flying past a waterfall. Danaher took charge stating: “If I can get a piece of string and a ruler, I can fix this.” He found just such, cleverly installed them and Pollack: “got every single shot he wanted.”

     

    Pilot Roger Fiennes (1944 – 1998) pictured with Alexy Zaitov during the 1989 Glasmoth project expedition to Moscow and back

    Another person to have piloted the Gipsy Moth G-AAMY, according to a comment left in the PPRuNe Professional Pilots Rumour Network forum, was a man named Roger Fiennes. Whether this “rumour” is true or not, the cousin of the actor Ralph Fiennes and the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, is another character with a flying history as fascinating as his true family name – which turns out to be “Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes” when presented in full. Of why he did not use this lengthy and historic surname, Fiennes is said to have once commented:

     

    “You try writing that signature on a 6 foot long cheque book.”

     

    Fiennes flew many hours in a variety of planes and one of the best documented was an expedition supported by the Daily Mail from White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire to Sheremetyevo Airport in the Soviet Union in April 1989 and back. He flew one of three Tiger Moth bi-planes with a Russian navigator named Alexy Zaitov. The journey took three weeks to complete, involved 33 perilous stops and covered 5,000 miles.

     

    On 19th April 1998, Fiennes was piloting a 1941 DH82A Tiger Moth, G-BALX, from Dieppe to Headcorn Aerodrome in Kent but he failed to reach his destination. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report into the disappearance concluded:

     

    “Although the pilot contacted Paris Information by radio, in the absence of a specific request, the flight plan was not activated. Lashenden was therefore unaware of the flight’s departure and ETA. When the aircraft was reported missing overdue action, and the subsequent Search and Rescue operation, which was activated on the morning of 21 April 1998. Since then there has been no sign of the aircraft or pilot.”

     

    Articles at the time and forums since are sparse in detail but several forum posters and articles suggest that Mr Fiennes had “mounting debts and a string of business collapses.” Whilst some go as far as to suggest a “Lord Lucan” style disappearance and make references to “paddling canoes” and “check[ing] the Panamanian register,” others remember a “nice guy, sadly missed.” Whatever really happened that fateful day, though, will probably never be solved.

     

    Another image of Gipsy Moth G-AAMY

    G-AAMY, which was marked G-AAMT for the filming of Out of Africa, is a plane with a remarkable past. We suspect there’ll be a few more dramas for this craft yet.

    The 1929 De Havilland DH 60 GMW Gipsy Moth bi-plane G-AAMY will be sold by Bonhams at the Grand Palais in Paris, France sale during Rétromobile week (6th to 7th February 2013). For more information telephone +33 1 42 61 10 11 or go to: http://www.bonhams.com

     

    To learn more about Tom Danaher’s experience flying G-AAMY in Out of Africa, read the full TimesRecordNews report by Lara K. Richards at: http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2008/jun/08/fly/?print=1

     

    To read the AAIB account of the disappearance of Roger Fiennes and DH82A Tiger Moth, G-BALX, go to: http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/dft_avsafety_pdf_502449.pdf

     

  • Beverly Cohen

    Beverly Cohen

    Co-owner of the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills with her husband R. J., Cohen is of surprisingly humble origins. She grew up on a chicken farm in Cleveland, Ohio but moved to LA with her divorced mother aged 13 when she opened a Kosher chicken killing plant on Santa Monica Boulevard. This hardworking lady now instead hosts the likes of Rod Stewart, John Tavolta, Quentin Tarrantino, Mel Gibson, Britney Spears and Ryan Seacrest. On an occasion Matthew McConaughey has even been known to park his Airstream on the front lot to barbeque steak for passersby.

  • Richard Caring

    Richard Caring

    Of Italian-Jewish descent, Caring is of the “supermarket-sweep” school of empire building. This billionaire started out in the rag trade but now controls the majority of the top restaurants and clubs in Central London. He survived the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and viewed that to be a wakeup call. Since then he’s donated millions to charity and focused on his two passions: golf and shooting. This buccaneering businessman generally passes on breakfast and lunch and lives between a converted stable block set in 500 acres near Dulverton and a mansion on The Bishops Avenue. What will he buy next?

  • Jocelyn Wildenstein (née Périsset and also known as “Jocelynnys Dayannnys da Silva Bezerra”)

    Jocelyn Wildenstein (née Périsset and also known as “Jocelynnys Dayannnys da Silva Bezerra”)

    If one spent $2,000,000 on cosmetic surgery, one would expect to end up looking fantastic. It didn’t quite work out in the case of the billionairess “Bride of Wildenstein,” though, as instead she discovered the husband she thought she’d please in bed with a 19-year old Russian. Feline like in appearance, the purr of this New York socialite is said to be just as bad as her bite. She’s known to be a skilled hunter and pilot and once boasted her telephone bills were at least $60,000 a year. Surprisingly far from camera shy, what on earth will she look like at ninety?

  • Shia LaBeouf

    Shia LaBeouf

    This Californian became a child star to help solve the financial woes of his family. He excelled in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and received a $15 million cheque for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Aside from acting, he’s been in relationships with Carey Mulligan, Isabel Lucas and Megan Fox but it is bar brawls that seem to form a staple of his existence. LaBeouf was questioned by the Los Angeles Police Department after one at the Mad Bull’s Tavern in February 2011, thrown out of another called the Cinema Public House in Vancouver in October 2011 and lost his hat during another at the Hobgoblin in London, SE14 in November 2012. We somehow doubt this wild child will be transforming into a reformed citizen any time soon but we’re also betting his career will rocket.

  • Ecstasy and Babycham

    Ecstasy and Babycham

    A marine residence with a history tied to the Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy, the Special Operations Executive and Babycham

     

    The House on the Shore on Thorns Beach at Beaulieu in Hampshire is a home that wouldn’t look out of place in the Hamptons or Rhode Island. Dramatically situated next to the Solent waters to the north of the Isle of Wight, this suitably named building wouldn’t have been out of place in the 1980s BBC series Howards’ Way. It could. Indeed, have been an ideal home for Gerald and Polly Urquhart. (more…)

  • Move It Like Beckham

    Move It Like Beckham

    Another rumoured sale of “Beckingham Palace” is reported

     

    November 2012: In March this year, the blog that preceded The Steeple Times looked into reports that David and Victoria Beckham would be selling their Hertfordshire home, Rowneybury House (better known as “Beckingham Palace”). For all the talk of that sale, as far as we are aware, it still remains in their possession. In recent days another media source has reported that the house is indeed on the market and that the Beckham family are now moving to New York. This has now become a story akin to that of “the boy who cried wolf” and it’s one that we’ll only believe to be true when the removal vans actually pull up.

     

    March 2013: In a further update, the story has resurfaced but the supposed price is allegedly now just £10 million. That’s quite a reduction.

     

    Whenever there’s a quiet news day, British newspapers like to put out claims that David and Victoria Beckham are to sell their Hertfordshire mansion, Rowneybury House. Such a sale has never followed but that the Mail Online chose to run this as a lead article is indeed interesting in view of the footballer’s recent return to LA Galaxy.

     

    “Beckingham Palace” before it was altered: Rowneybury House, Harlow Road, Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, CM21 0AJ
    The results of the “Posh” makeover included extensions, garden landscaping and even a soccer pitch

    Similar stories, for example, ran in the Mirror in April 2007 and again in September 2010. In the latter piece, an unnamed spokesman stated:

     

    “We can confirm David and Victoria have had their UK home valued.”

     

    Strangely all of these stories share a lack of credited sources and are written in the same vein on each occasion. Though Rowneybury House has certainly not come to the open market to date, today’s suggestion that the couple are selling as they think it “wasteful to hold on to when they never visit” would appear a sensible course of action.

     

    Rowneybury House itself was built in the 1930s and used as a council owned orphanage. Bought by the Beckhams in October 1999 for £2,500,000, the couple vastly altered and enlarged the Grade II listed house to include 7-bedrooms, a recording studio, gym, pool room and indoor and outdoor pools. They even added a 52ft garden pavilion complete with a huge barbecue reputed to have cost £70,000.

     

    In the grounds, which extend to some 24 acres, the Beckhams have added a petting zoo for their children as well as a soccer pitch, two full size golf holes, a floodlit tennis court and a helicopter landing pad. Three gazebos, one “romantic,” one “lakeside” and another “ornamental” were also constructed.

     

    The sum total for all of this work is, for some reason, always quoted in the mainstream press at £18,000,000. Though it is obvious that vast expense has indeed been spent on Rowneybury House by the couple, the figure does seem a little exaggerated. Equally ludicrous is the suggestion that they will sell at a loss.

     

    The Beckhams’ time at Rowneybury House has not been without drama. In 2002, police foiled an Eastern European gang who planned to kidnap them from the house and on occasions intruders were caught in the grounds. Further drama ensued in 2008 when the pair’s housekeepers, Eric and June Emmett, were arrested after being accused of stealing items of memorabilia.

     

    I myself found myself involved in a story about the house when, in 2004, I worked for a PR firm who were representing an estate agent selling an adjoining property. The owners Mick and Lynda Allen, who I believe eventually sold their home, Rowneybury Bungalow, to the Beckhams, used the surrounding publicity to attempt to launch the pop career of their daughter Nikki. I am not certain how she subsequently fared.

     

    David and Victoria Beckham with their children Brooklyn Joseph, Romeo James, Cruz David and Harper Seven
    The $22,000,000 “Italian style” 9-bedroom Los Angeles home the Beckhams have owned since 2007

    The Beckhams, who are worth some £160,000,000, now spend the majority of their time in America and are said to prefer it there. When in the UK, they opt mainly to stay at either Claridge’s or The Savoy as both are more convenient for Mrs Beckham’s meetings at her design studio in Battersea.

     

    Both the Mail Online and the Mirror suggest that Victoria Beckham has recently been looking at apartments “next to Hyde Park” so that she can maintain a smaller base in the UK. Perhaps a move to the £7,000 per square foot One Hyde Park development could be on the cards.

    If this news is indeed finally true, it’ll certainly be the end of an era for the pad dubbed “Beckingham Palace” as a portmanteau of “Beckham” and “Buckingham Palace.”

     

    Read Kimberley Dadds’s Mail Online piece at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2119709/David-Victoria-Beckham-sell-Beckingham-Palace.html
     
    Read Lara Gould’s Mail Online piece at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2301669/Beckingham-Palace-goes-sale-David-Victoria-eye-London-life–wont-allow-developers-buy-it.html

  • The Hamptons: where the upper classes of New York holiday

    The Hamptons: where the upper classes of New York holiday

    Thomas James on the playground of the rich and famous that is The Hamptons

     

    A typical beach scene in the Hamptons

     

    One of the most popular guest features on the blog that preceded The Steeple Times was this article by Thomas James. The summer may well have passed along with Sandy and her might but as the article continues to attract vast numbers of hits, we thought we’d share it with you again this autumn day.

     

    The Hamptons is a beautiful coastal retreat with sandy beaches and vineyards, is home to premier pieces of real estate, and is known as the playground of the rich and famous.

     

    Generally speaking, it is an area of concentrated Manhattan wealth, as many New Yorkers have second and third homes there that are most commonly occupied during the summer months. The differing hamlets that create this wondrous land of lush gardens and luxury real estate possess a distinct atmosphere and attract different types of individuals.

     

    Sunset in the Hamptons

     

    East Hampton is the most coveted hamlet as it is dotted with world-class restaurants, well-known art galleries, and boutiques such as Blue and Cream. It is also home to the Hamptons International Film Festival.

     

    The residents of East Hampton are a culmination of celebrities, fashionable, and chic individuals such as Kelly Bensimon and Russell Simmons as well as those who are more traditional or preppy in nature – who tend to belong to the Maidstone Club. Models, celebrities, and socialites from Linday Lohan to Lauren Conrad flock to Lily Pond, a trendy nightclub in East Hampton featuring French crystal chandeliers and it becomes a massive VIP lounge for today’s youth to celebrate.

     

    Kelly Killoren Bensimon: a lady who terms herself an “author, jewelry designer, model, former editor of Elle Accessories and star of The Real Housewives of New York City”

     

    Art For Life is an annual benefit held at the home of Russell Simmons. The proceeds of Art For Life support art programs for New York City students. This soiree is a grand event as Russell Simmons has no limitations to his imagination and often amazing performance artists entertain guests. The event attracts celebrities, philanthropists and lovers of art.

     

    Hip-hop star Russell Simmons: co-founder of Def Jam and creator of Phat Farm, Argyleculture and American Classics

     

    As one strolls down Main Street after enjoying a memorable cup of coffee at Sant Ambroeus, one may bump into Ina Garten purchasing fresh vegetables at Citarella or a socialite shopping at Hermes.

     

    Southampton is similar to that of East Hampton as it is home to many chic restaurants and boutiques such as Stubbs and Wootton. Southampton has many social events throughout the year and is very Waspy in nature.

     

    The hamlet of Bridgehampton is known for the Hampton Classic, which is a highly anticipated equestrian riding event held annually. One may find solace venturing through Bridgehampton’s world-renowned vineyards in the early morning and later soaking up the fruity wines of Bridgehampton’s famed wineries.

     

    Hamptonites often flock to Pierre’s with friends in Bridgehampton for ideal French cuisine. “The atmosphere is cozy and intimate, elegant but relaxed, a place to see and to be seen.”

     

    Polo in the Hamptons
    Nacho Figueras: this top polo player is the face of Ralph Lauren’s Black line and often described as the “David Beckham of polo.” He’s a regular on the Hamptons social scene and married to photographer Deflina Blaquier.

     

    Many artists, writers, and actors are drawn to the hamlet of Watermill. Watermill has many riding stables, golf courses, and a polo team. The Watermill Center is a haven for artists who are free to explore, experiment, and express their ideas. The glamorous Watermill Gala is an end of summer fundraiser where eccentric performance artists are on display as partygoers are sipping their champagne.

     

    If one truly desires to step into the untouched beauty of the Hampton’s one usually ventures to Montauk. This hamlet is the farthest hamlet on the east end. The estates of prominent individuals line the shores of the Atlantic.

     

    Bernie and Ruth Madoff’s former holiday home in Montauk: 216 Old Montauk Highway, Montauk, NY 11954

     

    In 2009, Bernard and Ruth Madoff’s Montauk beach house was sold to an unidentified buyer. He and his former home penetrate one’s mind with an image of vulgar decadence. Surprisingly, the 4 bedroom, 3,014 square foot house, which sits on 1.2 acres, is a mere cottage amongst the typical mansions and estates. This classic beach house sits closer to the ocean than the neighboring homes of Ralph Lauren and Robert DeNiro, which was it’s major selling point as well as the unsurpassed views of Montauk’s untouched beauty. Bernie Madoff purchased the land and then built the home in 1979 for approximately $3 million but due to the exposure of his scam, the house was taken by the government in July 2009. Proceeds of the sale benefited victims of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. It is now estimated to now be worth around $8 million.

     

    From Alec Baldwin, preserving the raw beauty found here, to local artists trying to capture the indescribable beauty of the east end, the Hamptons is a truly special place where lavish individuals harmonise beautifully with the lush nature found there.

     

    For more information on The Hamptons International Film Festival, go to: http://hamptonsfilmfest.org

     

    For details on The Hamptons Classic, go to: http://www.hamptonclassic.com

     

    For general information on the Hamptons, go to: http://www.hamptons.com or follow Hamptons.com on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/hamptons

     

    Read Niche Media LLC’s Hamptons magazine at: http://hamptons-magazine.com

     

    To read a blog dedicated to the Hamptons, go to: http://bloghamptons.com

     

    View Thomas (T.J.) James’s blog, The Gentledaneur, at: http://thegentleman-dandy-flaneur.tumblr.com Follow T.J. on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/thomasjames124