F. Scott Fitzgerald lived with his wife Zelda Fitzgerald at 6 Gateway Drive in Great Neck Estates, in King’s Point on Long Island, New York, from 1922-1924s, and based West Egg in the book, The Great Gatsby, on Great Neck/King’s Point, and the neighbouring East Egg was modelled on the more affluent Sands Point…
The couple moved there in 1922 after the birth of their daughter “Scottie” and the home became the inspiration for Nick Carraway’s West Egg house in the novel. Read more about the development of the story here.
When we visited New York and the Hamptons a couple of years ago, we stopped by the Fitzgeralds’ former home for a quick “we don’t want to be arrested for stalking” photo.
The house is a private property and not open to the public, but we were still surprised to see that such an important location was in a regular street in a pretty suburb, surrounded at every turn by other houses and a main road nearby – I guess I had assumed that it would have been snapped up years ago and turned into a museum.
It is a beautiful home and it was fun thinking about the Fitzgeralds living there, and the writing of The Great Gatsby as a result.
See all our other coverage relating to the 1920s, flapper fashion and The Great Gatsby:
More reading about West Egg/East Egg and the Great Neck/Sands Point influences on the book here and here.
And for some shopping ideas inspired by The Great Gatsby, see this post.
Cheers, Natasha
www.myLusciousLife.com
