Now, like the comedian himself, it's a perfection that may take a bit of time to reveal itself to you. The home has clearly seen better days. It's more than a hundred years old, so of course it has.
But when we imagine this profane postmodern poet and his young daughters spending summers here, well, we get a little misty.
"Idyllic" is a word that gets thrown around a lot, so we hesitate to trot it out. (Louis C.K.: "We waste the *#@% out of our words. It's sad. We use words like 'awesome' and 'wonderful' like they're candy. It was awesome? Really? It inspired awe? ... You use the word 'amazing' to describe a goddamn sandwich at Wendy's. What's going to happen on your wedding day, or when your first child is born?")
The playbill from the Peter Pan Broadway debut. Louis C.K. just bought a house on the same property where J.M. Barrie and Maude Adams rehearsed it. (Photo via the Museum of the City of New York)
The playbill from the Peter Pan Broadway debut. Louis C.K. just bought a house on the same property where J.M. …
So you be the judge: vast lawns and neat hedges; cool blue waters with a picture-perfect dock; a heavily latticed and slightly louche green sunroom complete with paper lanterns (one torn); aggressively floral wallpaper and odd old-fashioned portraits everywhere.
It's called Primrose Cottage (of course), on the Westmoreland Farm portion of New York's Shelter Island. And here's a great detail for you: "Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" made its informal American debut on the property. In the summer of 1905, author J.M. Barrie and actress Maude Adams ran through the play at Westmoreland Farm before its Broadway debut. They strung a wire from the peak of Turner's Tower down to a nearby barn for the flying scenes, and townspeople sprawled on blankets and chairs on the lawn to watch the magic unfold.
The home, overlooking West Neck Bay, has a deepwater dock. Louis C.K. is a sailor too.
The home, overlooking West Neck Bay, has a deepwater dock. Louis C.K. is a sailor too.
From then on, Westmoreland Farm was known as Never-Never Land.
Babe Ruth also spent time at Westmoreland Farm one summer, though our friends at Zillow say the baseball great stayed in one of the estate's other three houses -- not Primrose, as some folks claim. The Babe did hit balls in the yard, a recent property listing says.
The house was rumored to have been built for President McKinley and his mistress, but Zillow says that claim has been debunked as well. Instead, McKinley and future President Theodore Roosevelt were guests at Primrose.
Louis C.K. paid $2.44 million for the place, which had been listed for as much as $4.9 million before several price drops, most recently to $2.49 million.
Louis C.K.'s purchase was reported by the New York Post, which added: "Our spies say he is excited about renovating the house." Newsday offers a slight elaboration, citing a source who "says that C.K. plans to restore the historic structure."
We can't wait to hear the stories he'll spin.
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