Katharine Hepburn’s Beverly Hills hideout hits market for $1.4 million

A modest, wood-paneled two-bedroom cabin in Benedict Canyon, Beverly Hills, built in 1923 and set on about a half-acre, is on the market for $1.4 million. The property has long been tied to Katharine Hepburn and her close friend Laura Harding, a New York socialite and heiress to the Smith, Barney & Co. fortune, fueling decades of speculation about the nature of their relationship. The listing reflects a blend of historical intrigue and modern updates, including solar power, skylights and a large deck that opens to the canyon hillside.

Harding owned the home at various times and was Hepburn’s best friend when the pair moved from New York to Hollywood in the late 1920s. Harding helped Hepburn with wardrobe design, public relations and negotiations with producers and directors, and she was often described as Hepburn’s secretary. Local lore has long suggested a closeness between the two women, with Harding joking that she was “Miss Hepburn’s husband.” Hepburn’s visits to the home during Harding’s residence reinforced the circle’s speculation about their bond. The two women’ s association has been explored in depth in the 2007 biography Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn, by William J. Mann, which drew on interviews with people who knew both women and offered vivid portraits of their connection.

A friend of both women told Mann that they were genuinely, deeply in love — a sentiment echoed by others who described a passionate friendship marked by affection and mutual dependence. Emily King, Harding’s grandniece, has likewise weighed in on the complexity of the relationship, noting that Harding might have found different happiness had she lived openly. King also described Harding’s longing for acceptance from her father, a dynamic that played into how she navigated her life as heiress and socialite. Hepburn publicly denied any romantic relationship with Harding in her 1991 memoir Me, choosing to frame their relationship as a powerful, affectionate bond rather than a romance.

The house itself has changed hands but retains much of its original charm. The two-bedroom, one-bathroom residence offers 1,200 square feet of living space and sits on a wooded lot that provides privacy from the surrounding area. Original features include wooden floors and vaulted ceilings, complemented by a working Magic Chef stove from 1928. Modern upgrades have been added over the years, including solar power and skylights, as well as a large, renovated deck that looks out into the canyon and provides an outdoor living space that suits the property’s secluded nature.

The home has a storied history even beyond Hepburn and Harding. Harding later returned to New York to resume her heiress lifestyle, though she kept the Beverly Hills property for many years. Hepburn’s public appearances and professional decisions were often intertwined with Harding’s circle, a dynamic that has continued to interest historians and fans of classic Hollywood alike. The dynamic between Hepburn and Harding is frequently cited as a central element of Hepburn’s early Hollywood years, illustrating the pressures of image and propriety in the era.

Today, the property is listed by the Gambino Group at Compass, with Cassie Levine and Carl Gambino serving as listing agents. The sale marks a rare public airing of a private enclave once associated with one of cinema’s most enduring icons, offering prospective buyers a tangible link to Hollywood’s formative years at a time when the industry was charting its modern course.

The listing emphasizes the sense of privacy and offbeat charm that drew Hepburn and Harding to Benedict Canyon, alongside practical updates that bring the property into the current market. While the narrative around Hepburn and Harding remains a subject of biography and legend, the house itself stands as a preserved artifact of a particular era in Hollywood — a place where fame, friendship and concealment intersected against a backdrop of oak trees, winding drives and the quiet creak of a 1920s stove.

For buyers drawn to culture, history and architecture, the property presents an opportunity to own a piece of Hollywood myth alongside a functional home that has been adapted for contemporary living. The contrast between the preserved original elements and the modern enhancements mirrors the broader tension in classic-era gossip — the allure of what might have been versus the reality of what remains visible and verifiable in the record.