View source for Kennedy Compound

{{short description|Historic house in Massachusetts, United States}}

{{use mdy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Kennedy Compound
| nrhp_type = nhld
| image = Kennedy Compound 2021.jpg
| caption = The Kennedy Compound in [[Hyannis Port, Massachusetts]] in 2021
| location = 50 Marchant Avenue<br />[[Hyannis, Massachusetts#Hyannis Port|Hyannis Port, Massachusetts]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| coordinates = {{coord|41|37|47.928|N|70|18|8.4954|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = Cape Cod#Massachusetts
| area = 6 [[acre]]s (24,000 m²)
| built = 1904
| architect = 
| architecture = [[Clapboard (architecture)|Clapboard]]
| designated_nrhp_type = November 28, 1972
| added = November 28, 1972
| refnum = 72001302<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
| nrhp_type2 = cp
| nocat = yes
| designated_nrhp_type2 = November 10, 1987
| partof = [[Hyannis Port Historic District]]
| partof_refnum = 87000259
| map_label = Kennedy Compound
}}
The '''Kennedy Compound''' consists of three houses on {{convert|6|acre|ha|abbr=off|spell=in}} of waterfront property in [[Hyannis Port, Massachusetts]] on [[Cape Cod]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Kennedys in Hyannis Port; How it happened |url=https://jfkhyannismuseum.org/11366-2/ |website=John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum |date=April 11, 2022 |access-date=12 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Kennedy compound, in pictures |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/02/us/gallery/kennedy-compound/index.html |website=[[CNN]] |date=August 2, 2019 |access-date=13 July 2024}}</ref> It was once the home of [[Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.]], an American businessman, investor, and diplomat; his wife, [[Rose Kennedy|Rose]]; and their nine children, including U.S. President and Senator [[John F. Kennedy]] and U.S. Senators [[Robert F. Kennedy]] and [[Ted Kennedy|Edward M. Kennedy]]. As an adult, the youngest son, Edward, lived in his parents' house, and it was his primary residence from 1982 until he died of brain cancer at the compound, in August 2009.<ref>Staff writer (August 27, 2009). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/27/kennedy-compound-converted-museum "Kennedy Compound to Be Converted to Museum – Sen. Edward Kennedy Succumbed to Brain Cancer at the Compound Tuesday Night and the Family Held a Private Mass for the Legendary Senator Thursday Morning"]. ''[[Fox News Channel|Fox News]]''. Accessed August 29, 2009.</ref>

Purchased in 1928, the compound became the place that the [[Kennedy family]] most associated with home.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Updegrove |first1=Mark K. |title=Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency |date=2022 |publisher=Penguin Publishing Group |page=33}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Tye |first1=Larrt |title=Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon |date=2016 |publisher=Random House |page=16}}</ref>

John F. Kennedy used the compound as a base for his [[John F. Kennedy 1960 presidential campaign|successful 1960 U.S. presidential campaign]] and later as a [[Summer White House]] and presidential retreat. In 2012, the main house was donated to the [[Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wbur.org/2012/01/30/kennedy-home |title=Main House At Kennedy Compound Given To Institute |date=2012-01-30 |work=WBUR |access-date=2013-03-04}}</ref>

==History==
In 1926, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. rented a summer [[cottage]] at 50 Marchant Avenue in Hyannis Port. Two years later, he purchased the structure, which had been erected in 1904, and enlarged and remodeled it to suit his growing family's needs.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kennedy family divided over Mass. family compound |url=https://www.masslive.com/news/2011/07/kennedy_family_divided_over_ma.html |website=MassLive.com |date=July 15, 2011 |access-date=19 February 2024}}</ref> In and around this house, their nine children spent their summers and early autumns,<ref name=Kennedy37>{{cite book|title=True Compass: A Memoir|first=Edward M.|last=Kennedy|page=[https://archive.org/details/truecompassmemoi00kenn/page/37 37]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-446-53925-8|publisher=Twelve; First edition|url=https://archive.org/details/truecompassmemoi00kenn/page/37}}</ref> acquiring a lifelong interest in [[sailing]] and other competitive activities.<ref name="jfklibrary.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy|title=Life of John F. Kennedy|website=jfklibrary.org}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> The Kennedys previously spent their summers at a cottage on [[Nantasket Beach]] in [[Hull, Massachusetts]] (where [[Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.|Joseph Jr.]] was born in 1915).<ref>{{cite web |title=Honey Fitz Summer House // 1900 |url=https://buildingsofnewengland.com/2021/02/16/honey-fitz-summer-house-1900/ |website=Buildings of New England|date=February 16, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Joseph Kennedy Jr |url=https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/joseph-kennedy-jr |website=History.com|date=August 21, 2018 }}</ref> In the mid-1920s, the Kennedys explored purchasing a home in [[Cohasset, Massachusetts]], but when Joe Sr. applied for membership at the exclusive Cohasset Country Club, he was blackballed. Historian [[Doris Kearns Goodwin]] wrote that in Cohasset, "Irish Catholics were still looked down upon by the reigning Protestant (WASP) establishment."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lambert |first1=Lane |title=Could Cohasset have been Ted Kennedy's hometown? |url=https://www.patriotledger.com/story/news/2009/08/28/could-cohasset-have-been-ted/40345015007/ |website=The Patriot Ledger}}</ref> Joe Sr., who had connections with the members at the [[Hyannisport Club|Hyannisport Golf Club]], was accepted in spite of it being another "Yankee stronghold."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cillizza |first=Chris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MumIEAAAQBAJ&dq=hyannisport+club&pg=PT50 |title=Power Players: Sports, Politics, and the American Presidency |date=2023-04-18 |publisher=Grand Central Publishing |isbn=978-1-5387-2062-2 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-13 |title=How to Summer Like a Kennedy |url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/travel-guide/a43931043/kennedy-family-compound-hyannis-port-history/ |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=Town & Country |language=en-US}}</ref> It was a deciding factor for Joe Sr. to purchase a house in the seaside village.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Productions |first=TalkinGolf |title=TGH 66: The History of the Hyannisport Club |url=https://talkingolf.fireside.fm/66 |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=TalkinGolf}}</ref> In 1941, the Hyannis Port home became the family's primary (legal) residence.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schlesinger Jr. |first1=Arthur |title=Robert Kennedy and His Times |date=1978 |page=37}}</ref>

In 1956, John bought a smaller home of his own at 111 Irving Avenue,<sup>({{coord|41.6308|-70.3035|type:landmark_scale:5000}})</sup> not far from his father's home. In 1959, Edward acquired the residence at 28 Marchant Avenue <sup>({{coord|41.63|-70.303|type:landmark_scale:5000}})</sup> adjacent to the other two, but in 1961 sold it to Robert and his wife [[Ethel Kennedy|Ethel]]. Edward lived in the main house at the compound until his death.<ref name="Cape Cod Times - Berry">{{cite news|last=Berry|first=Jake|title=Future of compound fueling rumor mill|url=http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090829/NEWS/908290318/-1/special18|access-date=October 10, 2011|newspaper=Cape Cod Times|date=2009-08-29|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026012448/http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090829/NEWS/908290318/-1/SPECIAL18|archive-date=2011-10-26}}</ref>

==Layout==
[[File:Kennedy-compound-nat-park-serv.jpg|thumb|Kennedy Compound in 1972]]
All three buildings are white, frame, [[clapboard]] structures typical of vacation residences on Cape Cod. Except for specific occasions at the Main House, the buildings are not available for public visitation.

===Main house===
Joseph Sr.'s home, the Main House and the largest of the three, is surrounded by well-tended [[lawn]]s and [[garden]]s and it commands sweeping views of [[Nantucket Sound]] from its long porches.

On the main floor are a living room, dining room, sun room, [[family room|television room]], kitchen, various [[pantry|pantries]], [[utility room]]s and the bedroom that John used before he purchased his own house in the compound.

On the second floor there are six bedrooms, a sewing room, packing room, and four servants' bedrooms. The house has a full [[attic]].

The [[basement]] contains a [[Movie theater|motion-picture theater]] and a hall covered with dolls from all around the world. The dolls<ref>{{Cite book |last=Klein |first=Edward |title=All Too Human: The Love Story of Jack and Jackie Kennedy |publisher=Pocket |year=1997 |isbn=978-0671501914 |edition=1st}}</ref> belonged to Joseph Sr. and were gifted to him from a number of different acquaintances during his time as the 44th US Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

The house has changed little, either structurally or in furnishings, since President Kennedy's association with it.

In 2012, the main house was donated by the Kennedy family to the [[Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate]]. On the grounds are an enclosed [[swimming pool]], [[tennis court]], a four-car [[Garage (house)|garage]], and two [[guest house (lodging)|guest houses]].

There are two circular driveways with [[flagpole]]s standing in the middle, a [[boathouse]] and several large stretches of lawn area where many of the family [[Touch football (American)|touch football]] games were played.

Other parcels of land that assorted members of the family have purchased remain as well-tended as those of the more prominent homes.

==See also==
*[[List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts]]
*[[List of residences of presidents of the United States]]
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Barnstable County, Massachusetts]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{NPS|work=The Presidents|title=Kennedy Compound|url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/presidents/site30.htm}}

==External links==
* {{cite news | author=Knight, Wendy|date=August 18, 2006|title = A Harbor Full of History and Sea Lore on Cape Cod|newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | access-date = August 29, 2009 | url = http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/travel/escapes/18down.html?pagewanted=print }}

{{Kennedy family}}
{{John F. Kennedy}}
{{Robert F. Kennedy}}
{{Ted Kennedy}}
{{Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis}}

[[Category:John F. Kennedy]]
[[Category:Kennedy family residences]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Robert F. Kennedy]]
[[Category:Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.]]
[[Category:Houses in Barnstable, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1904]]
[[Category:Presidential homes in the United States]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Barnstable County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis]]
[[Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Barnstable County, Massachusetts]]