It'll be 62 years next month that John F. Kennedy was assassinated. If the 35th President of the USA were alive today, he'd be 108 years old. Yet the mystique around JFK and the Kennedys still commands attention even today, and it's not hard to see why: the young, handsome, and twinkly-eyed president, who lived a colourful life alongside one of the world's most photographed women, tragically cut short in his prime. So when one of his former homes comes up for sale, it's news — especially when it's as handsome a home as this $7.5 million red-brick townhouse in Washington DC's charming Georgetown neighbourhood.
The Kennedys moved to the house in late 1957 while JFK was still a senator. 'It was the couple’s first owned home in the city,' the agents relate. 'It was a setting for young family life and rising national political ambitions.' Coincidentally, at the exact same time in London, Margaret Thatcher and her husband Dennis bought their first house: a family home in Bromley which they apparently found in Country Life.
Unlike the Thatcher's home in the suburbs of south-east London, the Kennedys' Georgetown house had a long history in politics, having originally been built in 1811 for William Marbury, a key figure in the early legal history of the USA.
A century and a half later Kennedy and his team used the house as an unofficial nerve centre in the 1960 presidential election campaign. It was from here that president-elect John F. Kennedy left for his inauguration on 20 January, 1961; later that day, he moved in to the White House, which would be his final home.
The house's owners since then have done an admirable job of keeping this five bedroom, 5,215 sq ft home in superb shape, while keeping its sense of history alive. It is a house, according to TTR Sotheby's International Realty agent Michael Rankin, that 'offers what sophisticated buyers prize most: architectural integrity, enduring materials, large gardens spaces, ample parking and a storied address at the core of Georgetown’s village life.'
'It is a home that has hosted statesmen and young families alike,' Mr Rankin continues, 'where measured elegance frames modern living and where every arrival walks through a doorway shared by figures who shaped American history.'
3307N Street NW, Washington DC, is for sale at $7.5 million via TTR Sotheby's International Realty — see more details.
-
The Glovebox: Return of the Bentley Supersports, the ultimate rural Range Rover and the car collection fit for The KingA century after it was the first Bentley to top 100mph, the Supersports is back and looking better than ever.
-
The Alpine rescue dog built for blizzards, bred by monksAs snow fell across the UK this week, I found myself day-dreaming of St Bernards striding through the Alps — a snow-day dog worth celebrating.
-
12 fabulous rural homes,. from £650,000 to £4 million, as seen in Country LifeOur look includes a magnificently-situated home in Devon, a village home in Somerset and a historic Welsh farmhouse.
-
The Old Rectory for sale in a village up the road from Jane Austen's home, where the family lived that might have inspired some of her most memorable charactersIn the village of Dummer, close to Jane Austen's family home at Steventon, a beautiful old rectory has cone to the market. Penny Churchill takes a look.
-
The pink granite chateau that the Cointreau family built in the Loire Valley is for sale at £3.5 millionThe great country seats of the Guinness family have an equivalent over the Channel, where the chateau built by the Cointreau family is on the market.
-
Is this the end of the Forever Home?The classic dream of finding a family house in which you can settle down, raise a family and grow old has never been harder to obtain. So has the concept of the 'Forever Home' had its day? Annabel Dixon reports.
-
An Arts-and-Crafts home that sits in prime position in the most exclusive (and priciest) road in HampshireWith its own private jetty on the Beaulieu River, The Rookery is a rare and beautiful home. Penny Churchill takes a look.
-
A home where medieval, Georgian and modern come together in rare styleSet in a couple of acres in the leafy outskirts of Essex, Rochfords is a family house that blends old and new with charm and a sense of fun.
-
A private island in the Thames Estuary is up for sale at £50,000, complete with its own Victorian fortDarnet Fort is seeking a new owner — but it's going to need someone of great vision and spirit.
-
A 500-year-old house with Soho House-style interiors, Chelsea gold medallist gardens and a grass tennis courtHaslingfield Manor is an extraordinary mix of styles and ideas, from Tudor Britain to the cutting edge of modern design. Penny Churchill takes a look.
