Audrey Hepburn and Belcoda Dr.

 

In this post – a special story submitted by Joe Lombardo of Belcoda Drive shedding some light on a fleeting connection with an iconic film star right here in Winona Woods. We’re sure Joe would love to hear more stories. If there is anyone out there with additional information please share in the comments section.

Not long after we moved to Belcoda Dr. in 2013, or neighbor Ed DeMott recounted to us a story that was told to him by the original “Mayor of Belcoda Dr.,”  Ross “Scotty” Scott, several years back before Scotty passed away in 2010.  According to Ed, Scotty told him that Audrey Hepburn used to spend several weeks a year in the neighborhood visiting a relative on Winona Blvd., and would frequently take walks down Belcoda.  Scotty would chat with her, and Audrey Hepburn told Scotty that if her life had turned out differently, she would have loved to live on Belcoda Dr.

As charming of a story as this was, hearing it third-hand, and knowing how things tend to be, I assumed the truth was closer to “Audrey Hepburn once heard of Irondequoit” than that she longed to call our street home.  And as much as I wanted to believe that there was some kernel of truth to the latter, I couldn’t do it without doing a little Googling first.

I Googled “Audrey Hepburn Irondequoit,” and was encouraged to learn that, according to RocWiki.com and some other sites, the Breakfast at Tiffany’s star did have some connections to Rochester and, maybe specifically, Irondequoit.  I started to believe that Ed might be on to something here.

I assumed that there must be an Audrey Hepburn Museum out there, and that some charming old museum curator would be thrilled to let me know about any connections to Irondequoit that might be found in an out of the way, dusty corner of their archives.  I googled “Audrey Hepburn Museum,” and within a minute or two learned from an old article in People Magazine that there had once been such a museum in Hepburn’s adopted home country of Switzerland, but that it closed years ago.  The article did quote the curator- a woman, fortuitously for me, with a unique name.

Wondering if I was teetering on that delicate precipice that divides researching and stalking, but needing to go down this rabbit hole a little further, I looked for the woman on social media. Sure enough, there is one person out there, who happens to be in Switzerland, with her name.  I sent her a private message, which she replied to immediately.  This was the exchange, with her name deleted, and her correspondence in italics:

Hello Ma’am-  I’m doing some research, which lead me to look for an Audrey Hepburn Museum.  I found an article from People Magazine about such a museum closing, with a quote from a person with your name.  If you are one in the same, could I please ask you a question about Audrey Hepburn?  Thank you.

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Hello Joe, yes, please ask me a question, but not on facebook. my email is *****@hotmail.com I look forward to hearing from you – best regards!

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Hello-  Thanks for getting back to me.  I have what probably amounts to a rather odd question…

I live on an old, 1920’s era street called Belcoda Drive in Irondequoit, NY, a suburb of Rochester.  One of the “old timers” in the neighborhood, who has since passed away, claimed that Audrey Hepburn had an aunt that lived around the corner on Winona Blvd, and she would spend several weeks a year at her aunt’s house and walk down Belcoda Dr. every day.  He said that Ms. Hepburn was quoted to have said that if her life had turned out differently, she would have loved to have lived on Belcoda Dr.

I figured this was a bunch of nonsense, but it seems there is a connection between Ms. Hepburn and Irondequoit, which I found here: http://rocwiki.org/Audrey_Hepburn

Can you tell me if there might be any truth to any of this?  And I know it’s not likely, but you never know!  Thanks.

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Hello Joe,

I’m not sure if I have the information you need, but I will contact Audrey’s last partner and ask him if he knows anything about her possible connection with Irondequoit and I will get back to you with any information I can find.

Followed shortly by this…

Dear Joe,

I received a reply from Robert Wolders regarding your enquiry and it looks as though the “old timer” was right, he and Audrey did visit your city frequently. This is what Robert said:

“On the subject of the e-mail you received…..Audrey and I did, indeed, visit Rochester frequently as two of my sisters lived there and I had a house on the lake. We did habitually take walks on Belcoda Drive, the street mentioned by the young man. It has a cozy, retro ambiance which very much appealed to Audrey…as did Rochester in general.”

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So there you have it, neighbors. We’re not the only ones who love this charming little pocket of yesteryear.

And…I’ve heard rumors of a connection between Al Capone and a house on our street…(yes, seriously).