Katharine Hepburn’s ‘gay’ hideaway in LA asks $1.39M

The Beverly Hills home where Katharine Hepburn would rendezvous with the wealthy New York socialite Laura Harding is on sale for $1.39 million. 

Harding is known as the Hollywood starlet’s best friend, but long-standing rumors link the two women romantically.

The cabin listing in Benedict Canyon was first reported by the Daily Mail. The listing agents are Carl Gambino and Cassie Levine of the Gambino Group at Compass. 

Hepburn and Harding moved together from New York to Hollywood in the late 1920s. For years, Hepburn made frequent visits to her close friend Harding, who was frequently referred to as her secretary, in the heiress’s wood-paneled Benedict Canyon home.

The circa-1923 cabin enjoys shaded canyon views on half an acre of land along a private lane, which would have offered the pair seclusion from the prying eyes of Hollywood.

In addition to two bedrooms, the vintage bungalow includes a stone-floor kitchen, a brightly lit living room and a rustic bathroom with a free-standing tub. Cozy touches include original oak details and a stone fireplace.

Hepburn, whose six-decade career made her one of Hollywood’s most beloved leading ladies, remains known for her tomboy personality. She told Katie Couric in an interview that she “hated being a girl,” and had an adolescent phase in which she was “called Jimmy.” 

“I had three brothers, and I just shaved my head and thought ‘I’m a boy’,” Hepburn told Couric.

Hepburn denied rumors of her gay romance in her 1991 memoir “Me,” but gossip about the pair persists to this day. 

Harding relocated to a 60-acre farm in New Jersey after Hepburn skyrocketed to stardom, the Daily Mail reported, but she held on to their Beverly Hills cabin for a number of years 

Harding’s inherited wealth came from the Smith, Barney & Co. fortune. The investment company survived through a series of mergers before the name disappeared behind Morgan Stanley following the 2008 financial crisis. 

The 2007 biography, “Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn” by William J. Mann, cited by the Daily Mail, explored the extent of the pair’s close relationship through the recollections of friends and family, many of whom characterized Hepburn and Harding as each other’s great loves — whether that was platonic or romantic remains up for debate. 

Emily King, Harding’s grandniece, told Mann that she believed Harding would have been happier if she’d been gay, and that her great grandmother shared Hepburn’s tomboy sensibilities. 

The 1,200-square-foot home has been upgraded since Harding and Hepburn’s time, with features such as solar power, an array of skylights among the ceiling beams and a large deck with canyon views. The kitchen’s working Magic chef stove from 1928, however, remains.