Bette Davis’ former home in Maine has a new owner.
The legendary actress’s estate in Cape Elizabeth was placed on the market in July for $15 million, according to the New York Post, and recently sold for $13.4 million. Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty agents Sam Michaud and Bill Gaynor held the listing.
Playfully dubbed “Witch Way” by Davis, the home is found on an 8-acre property. She lived in the home during her marriage to actor Gary Merrill, whom she met on the set of the 1950 film “All About Eve.” The couple raised their adoptive children, Margot and Michael, in the home, as well as Davis’ daughter from her previous marriage, Barbara Davis Hyman.
After 10 years together, Davis and Merrill went their separate ways in 1960. Davis then bid the property farewell for good.
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“The property attracted interest nationally and internationally. One of the finest estates in Maine,” Michaud told Fox News Digital. “It sold in just 30 days. I am not surprised by the speed of the sale. A once in a lifetime opportunity.”
According to the New York Post, the current main house is not where Davis and her family lived, and was constructed in 2002. The 7,600-square-foot home includes five bedrooms and eight bathrooms.
Also found on the property is a two-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot carriage house with its own kitchen and balcony. The grounds also boast a barn and 1,200 feet of shoreline.
Davis began her acting in the 1930s and had her big break in 1934 when she starred in “Of Human Bondage.” While the actress didn’t initially earn an Academy Award nomination for her performance, the Academy received so much backlash for the snub that they changed the rules to allow write-in nominations, leading to her first Oscar nod.
Although she didn’t win that year, Davis went on to take home the best actress award in 1936 and 1939 with a career total of 11 nominations.
One of the films she is most well-known for is the 1962 classic, “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.” In the film, Davis plays the titular character, a former child star who torments her paraplegic sister.
Her sister in the film is played by Joan Crawford, a pairing which surprised Hollywood, as it was common knowledge in the industry that the two did not get along. Their feud began in the early 1930s when Davis was first starting out, as the two were often compared to one another.
The tension between them while filming the movie was the main plotline of the 2017 hit show, “Feud: Bette and Joan.” The series starred Susan Sarandon as Davis and Jessica Lange as Crawford. While they were playing rivals, Saradon said Lange was the one who convinced her to take the role.
“I’ve known Jess for a long, long time because, you know, as you survive in this business, a lot of people fall away – a lot of women are no longer around working as much as we have been lucky to work,” Sarandon told Fox News in March 2017. “Yes, because she (Lange) was very enthusiastic and Ryan [Murphy] was enthusiastic, and I’ve never signed on for something when I’ve only seen a tiny piece of it…. I didn’t have any idea where it was going…”
Through her portrayal of the iconic actress, Sarandon said she “learned a lot about her that I didn’t know for sure.” She also explained playing the role made her “examine certain things” because she had never thought of herself as old.
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