The complete guide to the Kennedy family’s most legendary homes

The Kennedy family is known as much for their influence on American style and culture as for their political achievements. The way the Kennedys dressed has launched a thousand trends, but their style has also had an indelible impact on interiors and design. Their take on decorating has captured the American public both in the present day and historically. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy famously drew a television audience of some 80 million viewers to CBS when she flung open the doors to the White House in 1962 to share her painstaking restoration.

A year later, in the wake of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, she likened her husband’s administration to Camelot, the mythical kingdom of King Arthur’s court. The fictional fortress also rang true to how the Kennedys lived—they had their own legendary compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, a coastal spread first assembled by President Kennedy’s parents, Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.

But where else did the Kennedys call home? With news that Netflix is plotting a new series based on the nation’s most enduring political dynasty, we’ve assembled a thorough guide to estates that belonged to its founding members, Joseph and Rose Kennedy, as well as those of their sons John and Robert.

Hyannis Port, MA

Senator John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier stroll across the lawn of his family’s home after announcing their engagement in 1953.

For the Kennedys, all roads seem to lead back to Hyannis Port. Located on the Nantucket Sound, the family’s six-acre complex evolved out of a single home that Joe and Rose Kennedy acquired in 1928. The couple had initially rented the cottage, located near Hyannisport Club on Cape Cod, a few years before buying it outright for $25,000. The patriarch of a family of ten, Joe set about expanding the modest house into what became known as the “Big House,” a 12-bedroom manse with a trio of front-facing gables. It served as a cherished family retreat where the clan spent summers and gathered for holidays, and—later—where they grieved numerous family members gone too soon.

Two of Rose and Joe’s nine children later purchased adjoining properties, expanding the family’s estate to its present size. In 1956, JFK, then a Senator from Massachusetts, bought the cottage at 111 Irving Avenue, which later served as his Summer White House. Three years later, younger brother Robert F. Kennedy purchased 28 Marchant Avenue, where he and his wife Ethel summered with their 11 children. After Ethel died in 2024, the residence went to their son Max Kennedy and his wife, Vicki, who refreshed the interiors with designer Ann von Kreuter—and gave ELLE Decor an exclusive look inside.

Brookline, MA

The house at 83 Beals Street, Brookline, Massachusetts, birthplace of John F. Kennedy. Photographed in 2003.

Joe and Rose Kennedy were married in October 1914, with Rose’s father—former Boston mayor John F. Fitzgerald—walking her down the aisle. That year, the newlyweds also bought their first home, a Colonial Revival charmer at 83 Beals Street in the Boston suburb of Brookline, MA. The future President was born in one of the house’s upstairs bedrooms just three years later. Though they sold the house in 1920, as a presidential birthplace, it was designated a National Historic Site in 1967. The landmark will open to visitors for the 2026 season in late May.

A Second Brookline, MA Home

In 1920, Joe and Rose relocated their growing brood to a larger house with a wrap-around porch just a few blocks away at the corner of Naples Street and Abbottsford Road. Designed by Greenleaf & Cobb, the Queen Anne–style gem was completed in 1897, and the Kennedys later tapped architect Harry Ramsey to add an extra bath and maid’s room. Robert, Patricia, and Eunice Kennedy were born in the home, where the family lived until 1927.

Riverdale, NY

After closing their Brookline chapter, Joe and Rose settled their family in New York. The first of their two homes was in the Bronx, at 5040 Independence Avenue. Here, they lived in a three-story, 20-room mansion dating to 1907. (While living here, JFK attended nearby Riverdale Country School.) The family moved out two years later, and the home was ultimately razed, per The New York Post, though structural fragments, such as a “stone room” in the basement, remain. A rebuilt 17,000-square-foot house hit the market last year for $6.45 million, but was delisted before it found a buyer.

Bronxville, NY

The home where the Kennedys lived for the most substantial amount of time was just outside New York City, at 294 Pondfield Road in Bronxville. They moved into a six-acre estate, dubbed Crownlands, in May 1929 and lived there until January 1942. Though it’s since been demolished, the Georgian-style manse came with a screening room plus two caretaker’s cottages on the grounds. Subsequent owners divided the land into three separate parcels in the 1950s, and one of them hit the market in 2023 for $5.75 million.

Dorchester House, Washington, D.C.

Dorchester House in DC.

After graduating from Harvard and during World War II, John F. Kennedy served in the Navy. During that time he lived in an Art Deco building in Washington, D.C., called Dorchester House, before being deployed to the South Pacific. The JFK Library notes that he shared the unit, Room 542, with his sister Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy in 1941.

Beacon Hill, MA

122 Bowdoin St. in Beacon Hill.

Following his naval service, in 1946, John relocated to his home state of Massachusetts where he geared up for his political career. He rented a Beacon Hill apartment at 122 Bowdoin St., which remained his registered address from the time he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946, to the Senate in 1952, to the presidency in 1960, and up until his death in 1963. He paid a reported $95 per month for unit #36, per his 1959 lease.

First Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Home

1528 31st Street in Georgetown was John F. Kennedy’s first DC address.

After winning his 1946 congressional race to represent Massachusetts’s 11th District, John needed a base in the nation’s capital. This Federal-style townhouse in Georgetown at 1528 31st Street NW became his first home, which he shared with sister Eunice Kennedy and congressional aide Billy Sutton, per the JFK Library. He moved out of the three-story abode in 1950, and it last sold for $2.5 million in 2017. According to Washingtonian, the following year John and Eunice shared another Georgetown residence, at 1400 34th Street NW, which itself sold in November 2020 for $4.2 million.

3321 Dent Place NW, Washington, D.C.

In 1954, Senator John F. Kennedy stands on steps of 3321 Dent Place in Georgetown as Jacqueline Kennedy makes her way to classes at Georgetown University Foreign Service School.

After meeting at a Georgetown dinner party in 1951, John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline “Jackie” Bouvier in September 1953 in Newport, Rhode Island. At the time, John was the junior senator from Massachusetts—and still using the Beacon Hill apartment as his registered address.

Their first marital home was a red-brick townhouse at 3321 Dent Place in Georgetown, built in 1942. They signed a six-month lease (at $395 per month) in December 1953 and lived there until the following June. At one point, Hollywood photographer Orlando Suero spent five days documenting the rising political couple at home. The photos were not published until 2001, when he released Camelot at Dawn, a book co-authored by Anne Garside.

Hickory Hill, VA

The terrace and back lawn of Hickory Hill, the estate of Attorney General Robert Kennedy in Washington D.C.

In 1955, JFK and Jackie paid $125,000 for a Civil War–era estate called Hickory Hill just a few miles outside of D.C. proper. Set on seven bucolic acres in the Virginia suburb of McLean, the 18-room mansion is where John wrote his book, Profiles in Courage, published in 1956. The book earned him a Pulitzer Prize that same year.

After Jacqueline suffered a miscarriage, however, the couple relocated to Georgetown, selling the house to John’s brother Bobby Kennedy and his wife, Ethel, in 1957.

During their time as owners, Bobby and Ethel enlarged the property to include 13 bedrooms and used it as a primary residence for their growing brood. They had five children when they moved in and would eventually have six more.

When his brother became president in 1961, Bobby served as U.S. attorney general, by which time the estate had become a gathering place for political heavyweights and socialites of the day. “While state dinners and gala concerts took place at The White House, the true social center of the Kennedy administration was Hickory Hill. Bobby’s parties were something else,” wrote C. David Heymann in his biography, RFK: A Candid Biography of Robert F. Kennedy.

In 1968, during his own run for president, Bobby was assassinated. Ethel held on to the property for decades, until 2009, when she sold it for $8.25 million.

1811 Marbury House, Washington, D.C.

January 20, 1961: John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, leave their Georgetown home for the White House, where they would have coffee with President Eisenhower prior to inauguration ceremonies.

After they left Virginia in 1957, JFK and Jackie acquired the Marbury House in Georgetown for $82,000, per Donald Spoto’s 2000 book, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life. They spent $18,000 on a remodel and welcomed both of their children while living here. It’s also where they resided when John launched his successful presidential bid, with the home functioning as an unofficial campaign headquarters. They sold it in 1961, in order to move into the White House.

Dating to 1811, the Federal-style brick residence was once home to another crucial figure in American history: William Marbury, author of landmark Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison, which established judicial review. The 5,200-square-foot residence is currently on the market for $6.45 million.

Glen Ora, Middleburg, VA

Middleburg, Virginia: "Glen Ora," leased by President-elect Kennedy as a weekend and summer White House.

After winning the presidency and moving into the White House, President Kennedy and First Lady Jackie Kennedy leased this Virginia horse country retreat between 1961 and 1963. The 150-acre estate south of Middleburg came with six bedrooms and plenty of amenities, such as a greenhouse, guest cottages, stables, a tennis court, and a swimming pool. Jackie even brought in legendary decorator Sister Parish to gussy up the place as they were building their own ranch a few miles away.

Wexford Ranch, Middleburg, VA

U.S. President John F. Kennedy visiting with family friend, Antoinette Bradlee, at the Kennedy family residence, Wexford, Atoka, Virginia.

On a 166-acre piece of land a few miles from Glen Ora, Jackie drew up plans for a ranch-style weekend retreat that the first couple would own outright. Dubbed Wexford, after the Kennedy clan’s ancestral homeland in Ireland, the estate was completed just months before JFK’s assassination in 1963. The couple reportedly only spent three weekends together at the 5,000-square-foot house; the president apparently favored Hyannis Port over the country escape. Jackie sold the home after her husband’s death, but the estate would later have another presidential link, serving as a temporary home for President-elect Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan in 1980, before they moved into the White House. In 2017, it sold for $2.85 million.

Carlyle Penthouse, NYC

Jacqueline Kennedy leaving the Carlyle.

When New York beckoned, the president and first lady stayed in a duplex penthouse at The Carlyle. While it’s not clear if they owned the two-bedroom apartment or simply rented it, the couple was able to customize the unit to their liking, adding an oriel bay window off the kitchen to optimize views of Central Park. The interiors still feature custom millwork, arching doorways, richly veined stone, and Art Deco flourishes such as the preserved stair rail that links the two levels. The co-op apartment, once referred to as the “New York White House,” sold to media mogul Barry Diller last week for $11 million.