Alice Cooper ”“ he of the surly attitude and raccoon eye makeup ”“ lived in Greenwich more than 42 years ago and recently recounted for the Wall Street Journal his experiences with a 40-room home, in his case the Galesi estate, which burned down in 1972 after Cooper had left.
“When our band began to catch on in 1971, we needed a place to live near New York where we could crank up the volume while rehearsing without bothering the neighbors,” Cooper told the WSJ.
“Shep Gordon, our manager, found a creepy mansion in Greenwich, called the Galesi Estate that rented for $2,500 a month.
“There were 40 rooms ”“ including a ballroom with a fireplace so large you could walk into the opening. There also was a chapel, a bell tower and 15 bedrooms with fireplaces ”“ perfect for all five of us in the band plus our road manager and a couple of crew guys. My bathroom alone was like something out of ”˜The Great Gatsby.”™ After we moved in that August, we did some exploring and found secret panels in the walls. You pressed a button and a hidden door opened. It was like the board game ”˜Clue.”™
He told the WSJ that at first people in Greenwich treated the band like the TV ghouls the Munsters, but once they made it big, likely to the amazement of the Mozart-themed regional demographic, “the town”™s attitude changed. We were considered new money and treated like the Beverly Hillbillies.”
Cooper told the WSJ his neighbor at the time was Bette Davis, who, upon meeting the shock rocker who once boldly crooned, “We got no class, we got no principals ”¦ we can”™t even think of a word that rhymes,” recalled she was a fan, who requested the band turn up the volume during practice sessions.
