Diana and Eric Hansen are only the second owners of this unique cottage. “It had been empty for about three years before we bought it,” Diana says. “I had been in the house 12 years earlier, and Eleanor showed me around and pointed out the pieces Georges had made. I never dreamed then that I would be living in the house one day.”
The cottage boasts a rich history of well-known guests. Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart was a school roommate of Eleanor’s who visited the home, and when Georges and Eleanor studied art in Europe, they befriended authors Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, who also visited the cottage on occasion.
Designed in 1921 as a studio, the ceiling of the main room was 26 feet high to accommodate Eleanor’s large paintings and Georges’s sculptures. Diana said Georges and Eleanor eventually added a balcony so they could include two bedrooms upstairs, which was about the same time they built the kitchen. “The kitchen is exactly the same today. Eleanor hosted huge parties from this little bitty kitchen,” she explains.
The home was originally very colorful, painted in mustard, turquoise, and other popular colors of the 1920s. “When we moved in, first thing we did was paint everything white,” Diana says. “Now you can see the beautiful designs and details.” Georges and Eleanor enjoyed their studio and home for 69 years. The Hansens have called it home for more than 30 years and hope to enjoy it for at least 30 more.
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