Inside the homes of JFK and Jackie Onassis

Discover the amazing homes of America's former first couple

American royalty, President John F Kennedy and First Lady Jackie Kennedy were the closest thing to a king and queen the US has ever had.

Both born into wealthy families, the couple were as fascinating for their glamourous lifestyle as they were for their impact on the political scene. And they resided in some of the country’s most stunning properties over the course of their lives.

From their childhood mansions to the Camelot White House, and Jackie's latter residences following the assassination of her husband in 1963, read on to explore the fabulous homes of America's former first couple.

JFK’s birthplace in Brookline, Massachusetts

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on 29 May 1917 in this handsome nine-room Colonial Revival house in Brookline, just outside Boston.

Kennedy's father, Joe, who at the time was cutting his teeth as a businessman and investor, bought the house in 1914, shortly after marrying JFK's mother Rose. He paid $6,500 for the property, the equivalent of a reasonable $198,000 (£150k) in today's money.

Following JFK's assassination, his birthplace was reacquired by the Kennedy family. In 1967 they donated it to the National Park Service and it's open to the public.

Kitted out with mod cons

The house has been faithfully restored to its condition during the Kennedys' tenure. When the family moved in, the house was furnished in a traditional style and kitted out with all mod cons, from indoor plumbing, gas and electricity to modern appliances.

A child who battled scarlet fever, JFK would have spent much of his time in the nursery, pictured here, though he was actually born in the property's master bedroom.

In 1920, when the future president was three years old, the family moved to a larger home in Brookline.

The Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts

In 1926, Joe, who'd become a millionaire by this point, joined the Hyannisport Club on Cape Cod. The scion started leasing a large home nearby known as Malcolm Cottage as a summer home for the family.

He later bought the property in 1928 for $25,000, which translates to $445,000 (£337k) today. Joe went on to renovate and extend the vacation home, doubling its square footage.

A special place for the future POTUS

JFK was nine when his father started renting the property and it certainly left a lasting impression on him. It continued to be an incredibly special place for him throughout his life, up until his death in 1963.

The future POTUS is pictured here on the grounds of the property in 1948 with his brothers Bobby and Edward. As you can see, the affluent area was peppered with sprawling summer homes.

The Kennedys' most famous residence

JFK and Jackie are pictured here in his father's Hyannis Port home in 1953. Three years later, JFK bought a house adjacent to his father's pad and Edward purchased his own place next door in 1959. Thereafter, the three vacation homes became known as the Kennedy Compound, which remains the family's most famous residence.

The compound served as the base for JFK's 1960 successful presidential campaign and was later used as a summer White House.

Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Bobby, who was assassinated in 1968, still lives on the property and celebrated her 96th birthday there surrounded by her family in April 2024. Taylor Swift wrote her song Starlight about her, according to British magazine Town&Country.

JFK's childhood mansions in New York

In 1927, Joe decided that Boston was no place to raise an Irish-American family, given the city's long history of discrimination against Irish Catholics.

With the Kennedy patriarch's wealth going from strength to strength, the clan moved to this 20-room Georgian Revival mansion overlooking the Hudson River in the New York City borough of the Bronx.

The family resided there until 1929, when they decamped to this equally grand home in Bronxville, New York.

The Kennedy townhouse in London

Kennedy's time at the Bronxville mansion would have mostly comprised of irregular weekend stays because he was away at boarding schools from 1930 to 1935, and then attended the universities of Princeton, Harvard and Stanford until 1941. The Kennedy family lived in the Bronxville mansion until 1942 and it was later demolished in 1953.

During their tenure in Bronxville, the family spent a spell in one of London's finest townhouses from 1938 to 1940, when Joe was the US ambassador to the UK. Here, the patriarch and his wife Rose are pictured in 1938 in the residence at 14 Princes Gate, Knightsbridge, together with their nine children. JFK, who was 20 at the time, is standing on the left.

The Kennedys' French Riviera vacation villa

While Joe was US ambassador to the UK, he spent vacations together with his wife and nine children, including JFK, at the glorious Domaine de Beaumont, not far from Cannes on France's Côte d’Azur.

Fit for royalty, the nine-bedroom villa was designed by “architect of billionaires” Jacques Couëlle and completed in 1920 for Dearborn Drug and Chemical Works (later Dearborn Chemical Company) executive George R Carr and his wife, Grace.

Palatial living spaces

The palatial villa wows with sumptuous reception rooms, a splendid marble staircase and a 44-acre (18ha) wooded park, which features a resort-style marble swimming pool, several outbuildings, a tennis court, aviaries and an olive grove.

The property is currently for sale via Sotheby's International Realty with an asking price of $26.2 million (£20m).

JFK’s red-brick terraced house in Washington, DC

In 1941, JFK joined the US Navy and served with distinction in the Second World War, during which time he was severely wounded and earned two medals for heroism. Following the conflict, the future president worked briefly as a journalist for Hearst Newspapers.

He started renting a modest apartment in Boston in 1946 to establish residency so he could campaign to represent the city's 11th Congressional District as a Democrat. JFK won the election that year and his political career began in earnest.

Not long after, he moved to Washington, DC, where he shared this Georgetown house with his sister Eunice and aide Billy Sutton for around three years.

JFK's charming Georgian townhouse in Washington, DC

In 1950, right around the time he was re-elected for a third congressional term, JFK relocated to a three-bedroom Federal-style townhouse several blocks away on 34th Street NW.

In 1951, he moved to this charming townhouse on Georgetown's North Street NW. The five-bedroom property was built in 1819 in the Georgian style. During this time, JFK launched his first Senate campaign and met his future wife, Jacqueline Bouvier.

JFK meets Jacqueline Bouvier

The pair were introduced to each other on 13 May 1951 at a dinner party hosted by JFK's close friends, the eminent journalist Charles Bartlett and his wife, Martha, who thought they'd make the perfect couple.

Let's take a look back at the future first lady's formative homes...

Jackie Bouvier’s childhood home in the Hamptons

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born in Southampton, New York on 28 July 1929 to Wall Street stockbroker John Vernou 'Black Jack' Bouvier III and socialite Janet Norton Lee. Like her husband-to-be, she was Catholic by faith and had Irish ancestry on her mother's side.

Jackie spent her formative years at Wildmoor, her paternal grandparent's Hamptons estate, and in 1931, she moved with her parents into a plush duplex apartment at 740 Park Avenue in Manhattan.

From the early 1930s onwards, the privileged youngster spent every summer at Lasata, her paternal grandparents' grander 10-bedroom Arts and Crafts-style home in the Hamptons, pictured here. The house sold in 2023 for a reported $52 million (£39.7m).

An accomplished student

Jackie is pictured here in 1933 with her mother on the grounds of the East Hampton property.

A keen equestrian, the future first lady studied ballet and was adept at foreign languages, excelling in French, which she was especially encouraged to learn on account of her French ancestry on her father's side.

However, her idyllic childhood suffered a blow in 1936 when her parents separated. As for the beguiling Lasata, it remained in the Bouvier family until the 1950s. The property was bought by fashion mogul Tom Ford for $52 million (£41m) in the summer of 2023 as reported in interior design magazine Elle Decor.

Jackie Bouvier’s teenage home in McLean, Virginia

Jackie's parents eventually divorced in 1940, and in 1942 her mother tied the knot with lawyer and Standard Oil heir Hugh D Auchincloss Jr.

Following the marriage, Jackie and her younger sister, Caroline, who went by her middle name Lee, moved together with their mother into Auchincloss' opulent Georgian Revival estate. Known as Merrywood, the property overlooks the Potomac River in McLean, Virginia.

Meanwhile, her summers were spent at the tycoon's Hammersmith Farm estate in Newport, Rhode Island, which we shall explore shortly.

Entering Manhattan's high-society

In 1944, Jackie chose to board at Miss Porter's School in Connecticut and therefore spent relatively little time at Merrywood. After graduating from the establishment in 1947, she attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Jackie would escape to New York City at weekends and made quite the mark on the upper echelons of Manhattan society. Unsurprisingly, she was named Debutante of the Year during the 1947 to 1948 social season.

A chance meeting

After a stint in France from August 1949 to August 1950, where she studied at the famed Sorbonne University in Paris, Jackie transferred to George Washington University in DC. It was during this time that she met her future husband at the aforementioned dinner party hosted by Charles and Martha Bartlett.

Merrywood was eventually sold by Auchincloss in 1959. The nine-bedroom property is currently owned by the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, which bought it in 2018 via Sotheby's International Realty for $43 million (£38m).

JFK and Jackie Bouvier marry

Despite their chance meeting, JFK and Jackie didn't start dating until January 1953. In fact, the future first lady actually got engaged to stockbroker John Husted Jr in January 1952, but she called it off three months later. JFK popped the question in June 1953 while Jackie was working as a newspaper columnist, and she duly accepted his proposal.

The pair tied the knot on 12 September 1953 at St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Newport, Rhode Island, in front of over 750 guests. They held their reception at Hammersmith Farm, the summer home owned by Jackie's stepfather, who walked her down the aisle.

JFK and Jackie Kennedy’s first marital home in Georgetown

In December 1953, the newlyweds set up home in this rented four-bedroom property at Dent Place in Georgetown's West Village.

JFK had been elected junior senator for Massachusetts in November 1952, and the couple entertained the great and good of DC in the traditional-style house, which was built in 1942.

Returning to school

Jackie, who had resigned from her journalist job following her engagement to JFK, began taking classes in American history at Georgetown University in 1954. She is pictured here outside the West Village house on her way to classes with her husband looking on.

The property remained in the same family from 1942 to 2023, when it was sold through Compass for $2 million (£1.5m).

JFK and Jackie Kennedy's mansion in McLean, Virginia

JFK and Jackie lived in the property until the autumn of 1955 when they relocated to Hickory Hill, a beautiful 19th-century mansion in McLean, Virginia. They bought the property for $125,000, the equivalent of $1.4 million (£1m) today.

With its grand, shuttered windows and crisp white clapboard exterior, it was a grand residence where the couple could put down roots.

Sadly, this wasn't to be. Following the tragic loss of their baby daughter, Arabella, in August 1956, the couple decided to sell up and move on from Hickory Hill just a year later. The mansion was bought by JFK's brother, Bobby, and his wife, Ethel.

Campaigning from Cape Cod

JFK and Jackie moved back to Georgetown and spent some time in New York City, where their daughter, Caroline, was born in 1957.

With his national profile rising, JFK launched his White House bid in January 1960 using the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port as his base. This photo was taken there on November 8th, 1960. On the afternoon of the following day, Kennedy was declared US President-Elect.

JFK elected US president

The popular senator swept to victory, becoming America's first Catholic president and at just 43, the youngest to be elected POTUS.

This photograph shows him giving his victory speech with a heavily pregnant Jackie by his side. Two weeks later, Jackie gave birth to their son, John F Kennedy Jr.

President JFK and First Lady Jackie Kennedy’s White House

JFK and Jackie brought glamour and sophistication to the White House, which was referred to as Camelot during the Kennedy administration.

The couple did away with some of the older social conventions, creating a more relaxed atmosphere. For example, the tradition of formal receiving lines was abolished in favour of a more casual approach to greeting guests.

Meanwhile, Jackie made it her mission to recapture the historical character of the White House interiors.

Redecorating the executive mansion

Working with top American and French interior designers, the cultured first lady restored several spaces with exquisite taste, from the French Empire-style Blue Room to the American Empire-inspired Red Room. Jackie replaced the cheap reproduction furnishings bought by previous administrations with valuable antiques. She also restored the famous Rose Garden.

Jackie showcased the fruits of her labour with a televised guided tour of the revamped White House, which aired on CBS in February 1962, attracting more than 80 million viewers. She's pictured here during the tour with CBS reporter Charles Collingwood.

New Christmas traditions

JFK and Jackie are pictured here at Christmas 1961 in the redecorated Blue Room. Jackie originated the White House tradition of selecting a festive theme for the executive mansion's tree.

During his tenure, JFK successfully diffused the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. The president also championed civil rights and promised to put a man on the Moon, though Nixon was in office when this eventually became a reality. As a result, experts frequently place JFK among America's better presidents.

The Kennedys' summer White House in Newport, Rhode Island

Hammersmith Farm in Newport, Rhode Island, was built in 1887 for John Winthrop Auchincloss, the father of Jackie's stepfather, who ended up inheriting the property. As we've mentioned, JFK and Jackie's wedding reception was held at the sprawling 28-room property.

During the Kennedy administration, the mansion served as a summer White House along with the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port.

A happy family haven

JFK's nephew, Patrick Kennedy, told SouthCoastToday: “Hammersmith Farm was the site of much joy and happiness for the Kennedy family.”

The president and first lady are pictured here with their two children on the property's staircase sometime during the summer of 1961. Hammersmith Farm was also used to entertain foreign dignitaries.

Entertaining dignitaries

In 1962, the POTUS and FLOTUS welcomed the then-president of Pakistan, Muhammad Ayub Khan, who is pictured here having a stroll with the couple and various other dignitaries and aides outside the main house.

The estate's principal property was sold by Jackie's mother in 1977. She moved into the estate's windmill house and retained ownership of a yellow farmhouse on the grounds, which were both eventually inherited by her stepson, Hugh Auchincloss, who died on the property in 2015.

The Kennedys' winter White House in Palm Beach, Florida

In addition to the so-called summer White Houses, the Kennedys also had a stunning winter White House: this 1920s Mediterranean-style mansion in Florida's Palm Beach, where they spent Christmas in 1962.

The property was bought by JFK's father in 1941 and was frequently visited by the president, first lady and their children during the Kennedy administration.

Fond holiday memories

The family also spent time at the residence on other holidays, including Easter of 1963, when this photo was taken before they made their way to mass at the local Catholic church.

Sporting a chic Oleg Cassini outfit, Jackie is wearing a mantilla here, a traditional liturgical shawl, as was customary for devout Catholic women during this period.

JFK spent his very last weekend in November 1963 at the Palm Beach mansion before his untimely death, according to American local newspaper The Palm Beach Post.

The former Kennedy estate sold for a record $70 million (£53m) in 2020 to asset manager Jane Goldman, who extensively renovated the property.

The Kennedys’ presidential bunker on Peanut Island, Florida

With the threat of nuclear annihilation ever present, even after the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, the president and his family had the option of riding out a Soviet attack in this top-secret 1,500-square-foot (139sqm) fallout bunker.

The covert shelter, which is located not far from the winter White House on Florida's Peanut Island, formed part of the Palm Beach Maritime Museum until it closed in 2017 for repairs.

A spartan survival shelter

In 1960, the US Naval Construction Force took just a month to build the covert facility, which could be reached within five minutes by helicopter from the Kennedys' Palm Beach estate.

The Detachment Hotel, as the bunker was no doubt half-jokingly called, was spartan, with facilities restricted to some bunk beds, a decontamination shower, a radio, a desk and a rocking chair for the president to relieve his chronic back pain. There wasn't even a functioning toilet installed.

Restoration underway

A replica of the wooden desk JFK might have used sits in a corner of the bunker. Thankfully, the doomsday refuge, which has since been declassified, was never used. In any case, it wouldn't have survived a direct hit, but it would have protected its occupants from a more distant blast and the ensuing fallout for up to 30 days.

The good news is that Palm Beach County took over the lease of the historic property in 2022, and efforts have been made to restore the bunker and reopen it to the public when repairs are completed.

JFK’s assassination

On 22 November 1963, a date that is etched forever upon the American psyche, JFK was assassinated in Dallas while his motorcade was driving through the city's Dealey Plaza.

JFK was the fourth US president to be assassinated and the most recent to die in office. His death stunned the world and left Jackie and their two children heartbroken.

His assassination fuelled countless conspiracy theories which have continued to the present day. Donald Trump even promised to release new documents linked to his assassination during the presidential race in 2024 should he make it back to the White House as reported by Sky News.

Jackie Kennedy’s post-assassination refuges in Georgetown

In the immediate aftermath of her husband's assassination, a grief-stricken Jackie and her two children moved into a property in Georgetown loaned to her by Democratic politician W Averell Harriman and his wife at the time, Marie Norton Whitney.

A month later in December 1963, the former first lady purchased the storied Newton D Baker House, also in Georgetown, for $195,000, which works out at $2 million (£1.5m) in today's money.

Jackie is pictured here exiting the mansion with her sister Lee and two interior decorators shortly after she'd bought it.

A storied residence

Built in 1794 in the Federal style for Georgetown's second mayor Thomas Beall, the three-storey mansion was home to US Secretary of War Newton D Baker from 1916 to 1920, hence its moniker.

Working her magic on the property, Jackie oversaw a redecoration of the manse but refrained from altering the structure of the property.

Withdrawing from public life

It was in the mansion's living room that the former first lady gave her testimony to the Warren Committee investigating her husband's assassination.

Jackie, who had retreated from public life following JFK's death, was hounded by prying eyes and the press. She decided to sell the mansion and move to her hometown of New York City.

A few from above

The home was bought for $200,000, around $2 million (£1.5m) today, by publisher Michael Whitney Straight, who it later emerged was a member of 'The Cambridge Five', a ring of UK spies that passed information to the Soviet Union during the Second World War and the Cold War, according to British newspaper The Guardian.

More recently in November 2023, the property was combined with two adjacent residences and sold at auction for $15 million (£11.3m) to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy as reported in US newspaper The Georgetowner.

Jackie Kennedy's penthouse apartment in New York City

In the summer of 1964, Jackie quietly purchased a sprawling apartment atop the 15-storey 1040 Fifth Avenue Building, paying around $200,000, just over $2 million (£1.5m) in modern money.

Overlooking Central Park, the penthouse would be the former first lady's principal home until her death in 1994. Jackie is pictured here dodging paparazzi outside the building in 1975.

Jackie marries Aristotle Onassis

On 20 October 1968, the publicity-averse Jackie shocked America by marrying Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

Jackie reportedly surprised close family members including her mother and sister when she agreed to wed the tycoon, who was more than 20 years her senior.

Artistotle first met the former first lady back in 1963, prior to her husband's death, after she was invited to spend time on his yacht while on vacation. Aristotle was acquainted with Jackie's younger sister, Lee. Years later in 1967, the mogul is said to have swept Jackie off her feet when he invited her to stay on the island of Skorpios, his private paradise in the Ionian Sea.

Jackie and Aristotle’s private island paradise in Greece

The couple's nuptials took place on Skorpios while the reception was held on the mega-rich magnate's private yacht, the Christina O.

Jackie and her new husband used the island as a retreat. It featured three residences, a helipad, a landing quay and breathtaking beaches created with sand imported from a nearby island.

These days, Skorpios is owned by Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, who purchased the isle from Aristotle's grandaughter in 2013 and plans to turn it into an ultra-luxury VIP resort, according to Greek newspaper The Greek Reporter, complete with helipad, superyacht marina and even an amphitheatre.

Jackie O's country escape in New Jersey

With her marriage to Aristotle reportedly somewhat tumultuous, Jackie began spending swathes of her time in New York City and at Woodwinds in particular, a simple house in New Jersey's Peapack Valley, where she could relax and ride horses to her heart's content.

Jackie rented the property from 1969 until 1974, when she purchased this rustic clapboard beauty on the Bernardsville-Peapack border for $200,000, the equivalent of $1.2 million (£910k) today.

A picturesque bolthole away from the limelight

Jackie, pictured here in Peapack in the early 1970s dressed in her riding gear, had actually been coming to the area well before she got hitched to Aristotle.

She first rented a property in the picturesque area in 1965 and kept horses from around that time in stables in nearby Bedminster.

Modestly furnished interior

The interior of the clapboard home, which was rather pared-back considering Jackie's taste for antiques and finery, is pictured here around 1979.

A year before her death in 1994, Jackie transferred ownership of the property to her daughter, Caroline. The property was sold in 1997 for $1.5 million, which is around $2.8 million (£2.1m) now. The house was sadly demolished in 2000.

Jackie O’s estate on Martha’s Vineyard

Aristotle died in 1975 and, with her kids all grown up, Jackie decided to go back to work, taking a job as a book editor in Manhattan.

Ever keen to escape the city at weekends and evade the paparazzi, Jackie was drawn to Martha's Vineyard, the tranquil and secluded island off the coast of Massachusetts.

In 1979, she snapped up a parcel of land there for around a million dollars, about $4.2 million (£3.3m) today, and built several residences not long after, naming the property Red Gate Farm.

Finding love again

Jackie found love again following Aristotle's death, and from the mid-1980s she shared her Manhattan penthouse with diamond merchant Maurice Tempelsman, who accompanied her on trips to the Martha's Vineyard estate.

As might be expected, the shingle-style five-bedroom main house and four-bedroom guesthouse were impeccably furnished by Jackie, who also had an enchanting treehouse built for her children on the grounds.

The property's landscaping was designed by renowned horticulturist and art collector Bunny Mellon and the acreage also includes a swimming pool and tennis courts.

Farewell to an iconic first lady

Having seemingly found peace and contentment after years marked by turmoil, Jackie's death from non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 1994 at the age of 64 was all the more heart-rending.

Red Gate Farm passed to her daughter Caroline, who eventually put it up for sale with Christie's International Real Estate in 2019 for $65 million (£49m).

A year later, it was partially sold to two land conservation agencies for $27 million (£20.7m). The Martha Vineyard's Land Bank Commission then purchased a further 32 acres (13ha) for $10 million (£7.6m) in 2021, with Caroline retaining 95 acres (38ha), including the main residence, guesthouse and three-bedroom caretaker's house.