Fictional character Jay Gatsby has an iconic reputation for living large during the roaring twenties. But apparently the author that penned the legendary story aspired to live even larger. With "The Great Gatsby" film, starring Leo DiCaprio and company, about to hit theaters, we were curious to know which opulent mansions inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald's American classic. We discovered that the writer's appreciation for remarkable homes on Long Island and in the South of France may have had an influence.
Let's start with a little context: Fitzgerald, a storyteller whose work supposedly paralleled his personal life, conceived of the book in 1922, shortly before moving to Great Neck, Long Island. Experts claim that his neighborhood off the LIRR inspired his story, which makes sense since the plot does revolve around Long Island's nouveau riche. One fabulous home on the Long Island sound called Land's End, the site for parties where notable figures like Winston Churchill, the Marx Brothers and Ethel Barrymore attended in the ‘20s and ‘30s, allegedly caught Fitzgerald's eye. To our disappointment, this house, which many believed mirrored Daisy Buchanan's abode, was demolished in 2010.
Fast forward a year to 1923 when Fitzgerald and family moved to a stunning new home along the French Riviera, where he would eventually finish the manuscript. According to the NY Daily News, the dreamy villa was listed earlier this year by Cote d'Azur Sotheby's Realty for $35.5 million. Another of his works, Tender Is The Night, takes place in the French Riviera. See a pattern?
Needless to say, it's hard not to see the resemblances between these homes and those in his works. And though we can't confirm that his novels' pages directly imitate these extraordinary properties, we can speculate that his private spaces played no small part in the book's development. Whatever the case, we're sure that even the Great Gatsby himself would tip his hat to the old chum for living in style.
To learn more about the magnificent home in Great Neck, watch the video above. And for photos of Fitzgerald's Mediterranean paradise, be sure to watch the Broken News Daily video below.
H/T: CBS News
"The Great Gatsby" is out in theaters on May 10, 2013.
'The Great Gatsby' Stills
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