Relive Sutton Stracke's Days Before RHOBH, From Young Childhood to Lavish Galas
See The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member through the years, from her debutante days to her time as a dancer in New York City.
Though Sutton Stracke is known these days as a Beverly Hills Housewife, she got her start in the South. "I kind of always keep home inside my heart," Sutton shared during a 2021 interview with The Daily Dish. "And I keep home in the way I live."
Growing up in Augusta, Georgia, was a vastly different experience than her current life in California. "Oh my gosh. I mean, there's just so many differences. You can't even count," said The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member, who joined the show as a friend in 2020. "L.A. is much more fast-paced. It’s much bigger. There [are] many more walks of life in L.A. There [are] many more opportunities here. It’s a very cosmopolitan city."
Take a look at the photos we've gathered below of Sutton in her younger years to see how the sweet and sassy boutique owner went from Southern debutante to RHOBH 'Wife.
See photos of Sutton Stracke as a young child
Though Sutton, who has a home in Augusta, told us she's "still an Augusta girl at heart," she also admitted, "I think L.A. has kind of infiltrated my life in a way bigger way than I think I realize."
Sutton was officially born in Columbia, South Carolina, to parents John Brown, an architect, and Reba Brown, a social worker for the Veterans Administration.
One of the ways Sutton hasn't changed is having an undying love for animals.
During our 2021 interview, the proud owner of both cats and dogs proclaimed she "always" had animals around growing up. Moreover, her affinity for cats came from her grandmother.
"My grandmother always had cats," she said. "We had lots of kittens at my grandmother’s house, and I would just take them home with me. So I always had cats. Always. So crazy. So, you know, I love them."
Sutton Stracke's life as a socialite and dancer
Sutton officially entered society at a debutante ball at age 18.
"I think it’s kind of a rite of passage for where I come from, and we do it in college. The tradition is that it comes from where your parents present you to society when you're ready to marry," Sutton said of her debutante days. "Now, when I did it, it was 1990, I think, is when I came out, they call it. Obviously, I wasn’t ready to marry, but it’s traditional, and your father presents you. You have two escorts, [you] wear white. Basically, like a wedding dress. And all the men are in white ties and whitetails. And you get to dance with your father, you dance with your escorts, and it’s a really nice, fun party, and then you have a year of parties. They make you write thank you letters, and you bring hostess gifts."
Following her teen years, Sutton graduated from the former women's college Converse University in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and moved to New York City in her early 20s to study dance.
"I was a choreographer. I was a dancer, I was a ballet dancer, and then I studied modern dance," she revealed. "And I really wanted to continue my choreography, and I had big dreams of being, like, this profound modern dance choreographer. And I wanted to study the technique of José Limón, and I did. I studied for a year."
Though she was offered a job with José Limón Dance Company, she passed on the opportunity so she could work with Merce Cunningham.
"They asked me to take the company audition, and I was ready, and I just didn’t go, and I don’t know why. There was something in me that just said, 'I don’t want to do this.' And so that’s when I took a job working for Merce Cunningham as the studio manager," Sutton explained. "It was a very strange moment for me, but I kept dancing. I did choreograph some things after that, but I just didn’t want to be on the stage. That’s why it’s so ironic that I'm now on television screens. What happened? I don’t know. I got stage fright at that moment in my life, and here I am."
Eventually, Sutton became the director of development for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in New York, and used the skills she learned from her debutante days to thrive in the role.
"We would do big galas, you know, for like 600 people. And in New York’s society, that is a very difficult task to do gala seating for New York socialites, and they take it super seriously," she said. "And as daunting as it was, I would sit there with our gala chair, and I got it. I was not nearly as intimidated as one should have been as, you know, [a] 25-year-old, 26-year-old young woman entering this New York socialite world. But I was like, OK, we've got this, and doing it kind of eased me into that job. So, yeah, I appreciated my debutante days after that."
On RHOBH Season 13, Episode 13, which aired on January 25, 2024, Sutton opened up about her relationship with Cunningham, a well-known dancer and choreographer. Because of their bond, Sutton received his ashes when he died. She subsequently brought them on the RHOBH cast trip to Spain to spread over the ocean.
"I want to release these ashes in a significant place and make this a really meaningful trip," she shared.
Sutton Stracke before The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Before joining RHOBH, Sutton was living her best life as a socialite, party hostess, and boutique owner (she still operates The Sutton Concept in Beverly Hills). She married Christian Stracke in 2000 (the pair divorced in 2016) and shares two sons, Philip and James and daughter, Porter Stracke, with the businessman.
Moreover, Sutton attended (and still attends) numerous galas, charities, parties, and more, often with other TV personalities and, of course, her bestie, RHOBH Season 14 friend, Jennifer Tilly.
In our aforementioned conversation with Sutton, she reflected on the gravitas of the show and its impact in the zeitgeist.
"I think the older you get, the more you can see the larger part of art, and, you know, this show has really opened my eyes to so many different things, and I do think that there is a social art inspection of this show that I find fascinating," the California mom shared. "So I think I'm keeping true to my inner artist. So I would have to tell my younger self, 'It’s OK.' Just, 'You're OK. You're still keeping your integrity intact.'"
—Reporting by Laura Rosenfeld
