Katharine Hepburn might be one of the greatest film stars of all time. But to her, acting was secondary to the great gifts of life—merely like “waiting for a custard pie.” “Life’s what’s important,” she once famously said, “walking, houses, family.”
In stark contrast to the glitz and glamour of Old Hollywood, Hepburn’s days at home were defined by intimacy and simplicity. When the Morning Glory star wasn’t filming in Italy or Uganda, she could be found in her idyllic Italianate New York town house or her Connecticut childhood summer home, which she used as her weekend getaway. Hepburn died at her beloved waterfront estate in 2003 at age 96.
Despite her larger-than-life film career, the actor purposefully kept a low profile and was a well-documented a homebody. Take a look inside the houses that made Hepburn below.