“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.”
Hi everyone, Ken here, welcome to This House
Today we stand on the doorstep of a pivotal place in the formation of a legend.
The home where John F. Kennedy spent his earliest years.
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JFK, a name that echoes through time.
Born in 1917, his story is one that’s woven deep into the tapestry of American History.
His presidency, brimming with youthful vitality and the audacity of dreams, forever etched
in our collective memories.
But every great tale has a beginning.
For JFK, it was right here, behind these very doors.
Built in the early 20th century, this colonial revival style family home was the cradle of
JFK’s youth, a silent witness to the molding of an icon.
His father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy purchased the Brookline, Massachusetts house in advance
of his marriage to Rose Fitzgerald.
The plan was to live like a modern family in a time when Americans were turning to the
suburbs for more space.
His father purchased a Ford Model T to commute to Boston for work, allowing his children
to have more space to grow up in outside of the crowded city.
As we approach the front door, let’s remember that these walls were the canvas for JFK’s
formative years.
To more accurately paint a picture of his time in the house, we will see a mix of new
and old photos as we continue inside.
Entering his childhood home, we arrive in the stair hall where we find elements of a
clean and simple Arts and Crafts styling in the unpainted millwork.
Turning around to face the door, modern technology was incorporated into the house in the forms
of electric lighting and even a telephone, which would have been considered more novel
than useful at the time.
In the parlor, a young JFK would listen to his mother playing the piano, and after he
had been tucked into bed, his parents would have stayed up talking and reading in this
room.
The dining room, which was one of the most important rooms in the house, was frequently
staged for entertaining, though the table would not have been formally set when it was
just the family eating dinner.
In this room, lively conversations would have taken place, perhaps the first conversations
which would have peeked JFK’s interests in politics and world affairs.
His mother, Rose frequently said about dinner conversations that, “history is shaped by
those who get their ideas across.”
Dinner would be prepared in the kitchen by the Kennedys two maids who would wait until
the family was seated to bring dinner to the table.
Let’s return to the entrance hall and pivot around the radiator, feeling is warmth rise
as we travel up the stairs to the second floor.
As we arrive at the second floor stair landing, we feel carpet beneath our feet, a soft surface
for the young Kennedy children to run around and play.
First we will find the Joseph and Rose’s bedroom with two separate beds, something
which was common for the time.
This is the room in which Rose gave birth to JFK, and his other siblings for that matter.
JFK would have spent his first years sleeping the nursery’s bassinet, surrounded by all
the toys a toddler of the time could wish for.
In this photo, we can more clearly see the lively wallpaper featuring a marching band
with JFK’s christening gown and gap on display.
Down the hall, we will come across the guest bedroom which was eventually converted into
an extra bathroom.
Though we can look back in time to see the Kennedy’s original bathroom, and in the
newer photo we can notice the tile mosaic border which outlines the perimeter of the
room.
The third floor, where the maids slept, was never restored, and before we find out why,
we can steal a glimpse of the stair landing.
After only a few years of living in the home, the Kennedys sold it and moved Riverdale,
New York.
Travelling forward in time, skipping past JFK’s achievements of launching the first
space program and his scandalous affair with Marolyn Monroe, and just after his assassination
in Dallas, Texas we will land back in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1966.
Rose repurchased JFK’s childhood home and embarked on a 3 year journey to restore it
to how it appeared in 1917 when JFK was born.
During this time, in 1967 she donated the house to the National Park Service to serve
as a memorial and house museum dedicated to her son.
She filled the house museum with items and furniture from JFK’s youth to the best of
her memory, recreating it as closely as it was during the time in which the Kennedys
called it home.
This home, a testament to JFK’s beginnings, speaks volumes about his journey- a journey
that changed the face of America and the world.
It his here that a boy first dreamt of the stars and later reached to them as a man.
Today, the John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site is scheduled to reopen later
this year following renovations and maintenance, ensuring it will stand for the enjoyment of
future generations.
I hope you enjoyed this journey through time.
Comment below which room or detail was your favorite, and make sure to hit that subscribe
button so you never miss an exciting episode of This House