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Flashback: Truman Capote In Brooklyn
By
Jen Carlson
Published May 10, 2010
Modified May 10, 2010
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Photo by Berenice Abbott. May 14, 1936.
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By
Jen Carlson
Published May 10, 2010
Modified May 10, 2010
Share
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The 11-bedroom/18-room Brooklyn Heights mansion that Truman Capote called home for ten years (writing Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood there) is now on the market for a record $18 million. The house has only changed hands a few times, and in the 1950s was owned by Broadway art director Oliver Smith. According to the Daily News, "Capote said he got Smith blitzed on martinis to persuade his friend to rent him the house's garden apartment from 1955 to 1965." Once he got his foot in the door, he allegedly bragged about owning the place while throwing parties when Smith was out of town. The current listing includes this quote from Capote: "I live in Brooklyn. By choice." Though not included by Sotheby's, it went on to say, "Those ignorant of its allures are entitled to wonder why."
Fun fact: Author Arthur Miller also lived on Willow Street for a time, as well as at 102 Pierrepoint Street, and 62 Montague Street... though never with Marilyn Monroe (as is sometimes rumored).
Tagged
70 willow street
brooklyn
brooklyn heights
flashback
real estate
truman capote
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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