The 1975 documentary Grey Gardens depicted the two living in squalor in the mansion; the highly regarded film[2] spawned a 2006 Broadway musical, a 2009 television movie, and other adaptations.

Other owners included Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn, who lived in the house from 1979 to 2014, and extensively restored it before moving in.

His brother challenged Margaret for control of the estate, saying she had used undue influence on him and that she had cremated him so that an autopsy could not be performed to confirm this.

In 1972, the Suffolk County, New York Health Commission issued a notice of eviction, stating the Beales would be unable to live in the house until it was cleaned and basic utilities restored.

Jacqueline and her sister, Lee Radziwill, donated money to make the house habitable and return it to a standard which would allow for the rescission of the eviction order.

That same year Radziwill asked brothers Albert and David Maysles to create a film, including interviews with the Edies, which would document the Bouvier family's visits to East Hampton during Lee's and Jacqueline's youth.

The project was ultimately canceled and the Maysles turned their attention to the Beales, resulting in the 1975 documentary Grey Gardens.

[7] In 1979, Little Edie sold Grey Gardens to Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn for $220,000 (equivalent to $924,000 in 2023) with the stipulation that they were not to tear down the house.

[8] In his 1995 memoir, Bradlee wrote "In all my life, including years reporting about slums from Washington to Casablanca, I have never seen a house in such dreadful condition: attics full of raccoons and their droppings, toilets stopped up, a kitchen stove that had fallen into the cellar, a living room with literally half a floor...