Strange Homes and Gardens Cafe (SHAG)

“Grey Gardens: The Decaying East Hampton Mansion of Big Edie and Little Edie” is a strange homes deep dive into one of America’s most famous houses.

Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale, “Big Edie,” and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale, “Little Edie,” the aunt and first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, spent decades in increasing isolation and squalor inside the decaying East Hampton mansion known as Grey Gardens. By the early 1970s the house was overrun with cats, raccoons, and garbage, prompting health-department inspections and a tabloid frenzy.

The 1975 Maysles brothers documentary captured their eccentric daily lives, constant costume changes, and complicated mother-daughter bond. It turned the Beales into cult figures and remains one of the most celebrated, and unsettling, American documentaries ever made.

Come explore the house, the women, and the legend.

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Sponsored by CampfireShoppe.com. Campfire Shoppe offers soy candles, melts, teas, and natural herbal supplements to make any home cozier.

“Meet the Neighbors at the Dakota Apartment Building” explores historic homes and the people behind them on Strange Homes and Gardens Cafe.

A legendary leading lady, the man who played Frankenstein's monster, the composer of West Side Story, and the world's greatest ballet dancer. They all called the Dakota home. We knock on doors at New York's most famous apartment building and ask what draws so many stars to Seventy-Second and Central Park West, and keeps so many others out.

Strange Homes and Gardens Cafe is about the history, architecture, and stories of remarkable places. Follow the show for more historic homes. Press play and take a look inside.

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Explore more at StrangeHistory.com

Sponsored by CampfireShoppe.com. Campfire Shoppe offers soy candles, melts, teas, and natural herbal supplements to make any home cozier.

“The Strange History of America's First Presidential Mansions” explores historic homes and the people behind them on Strange Homes and Gardens Cafe.

Discover the fascinating story of America's earliest presidential residences—long before the White House became the iconic symbol of the presidency. From George Washington's first executive mansion at the Samuel Osgood House in New York City (the nation's very first "White House"), to the grander Alexander Macomb House on Broadway, and the elegant President's House in Philadelphia where both Washington and John Adams lived, this video explores the temporary homes that housed the young republic's leaders.

Learn how these private mansions served as the original seats of executive power, the challenges of governing from rented quarters, and the journey that led to the construction of the permanent White House in Washington, D.C. A must-watch for history buffs interested in the origins of presidential life in America!

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Sponsored by CampfireShoppe.com. Campfire Shoppe offers soy candles, melts, teas, and natural herbal supplements to make any home cozier.

“From Servant to Owner: The Strange Story of The Dakota’s Millionaire Butler” explores historic homes and the people behind them on Strange Homes and Gardens Cafe.

Step inside one of New York’s most legendary and haunted residences — The Dakota — for a story that feels straight out of a gothic novel. In this episode of Strange Homes and Gardens, we explore the extraordinary tale of Indra Tamang, a young Nepalese farmer who arrived in America and became the devoted butler and caretaker to actress Ruth Ford and her brother, the surrealist poet and artist Charles Henri Ford.

For years, Indra lived quietly in the shadows of the Dakota’s opulent halls, cooking, caring for the aging siblings, and witnessing the eccentric world of artists, writers, and celebrities who passed through their doors. Then, in 2009, everything changed. When Ruth Ford passed away, she left her longtime butler two full apartments in the iconic Dakota building — along with a valuable art collection — worth millions of dollars.

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Explore more at StrangeHistory.com

Sponsored by CampfireShoppe.com. Campfire Shoppe offers soy candles, melts, teas, and natural herbal supplements to make any home cozier.

“100 Facts about the Dakota Apartment Building in NYC” explores historic homes and the people behind them on Strange Homes and Gardens Cafe.

Want to become an expert on one of New York City’s most iconic and mysterious buildings? This episode delivers 100 Fascinating Facts About The Dakota — the legendary Gilded Age apartment building famous for its stunning architecture, celebrity residents, haunting rumors, and tragic connection to John Lennon’s murder.

By the end of this single episode, you’ll know more about The Dakota than most lifelong New Yorkers. It’s the perfect foundation to deepen your knowledge of this extraordinary historic home and its many secrets Strange Homes and Gardens Cafe is about the history, architecture, and stories of remarkable places.

Explore more at StrangeHistory.com

Sponsored by CampfireShoppe.com. Campfire Shoppe offers soy candles, melts, teas, and natural herbal supplements to make any home cozier.