GREAT BONES
A House with a Rich Cinematic History
Hooray for Hollywood, but the film industry got its start in New York in the 1920s, and, in the mid-20th century, many movie moguls lived in grand homes in Rye.
Spyros Skouras, chairman of 20th Century Fox from 1942 to 1962, lived at 2 Shore Road in Greenhaven from 1931 to his death in 1971. Skouras introduced Cinemascope in the 1950s, giving films a competitive advantage over the burgeoning television industry. The first Cinemascope production, “The Robe”, starring Richard Burton, was released in 1953. Ten years later, the studio released what was then the most expensive film ever made, “Cleopatra”, starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. It not only resulted in the end of Taylor’s marriage to Eddie Fisher and her first marriage to Burton, but also in the demise of Skouras’ film career, because the production nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox.
Skouras’ waterfront stone and half-timbered manor home, which is currently on the market, retains its relaxed grandeur. The white marble staircase and elaborately carved fireplace surrounds could have been “in the pictures”. There are views of the water from nearly every room, a landscaped terraced garden, plenty of opportunities for al fresco dining, and a deep–water dock. In addition to light-filled sitting rooms, family and friends will enjoy watching movies in the screening room Skouras built.
