Jackie Kennedy’s Homes: A Glimpse Inside Her Notable Estates, Cottages, and Penthouses

Very few women have ever captivated the world quite like Jackie Kennedy. She was an influencer before the word was in our vernacular, and 30 years after her death, her legacy as an American icon lives on.

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born into high society in Southampton, New York, in 1929. She went on to become a scholar, an artist, a photographer, a fashion icon, and most notably, the first lady of the United States of America. Her heavily documented and photographed marriage to President John F. Kennedy—and life thereafter—was one of ups and downs. But despite it all, Jackie remained a symbol of resilience, influence, and strength.

Throughout her life, Jackie lived in and acquired some of the most desired properties and addresses in the Northern Hemisphere—the White House, most importantly. From her childhood spent riding horses in rural Virginia to life on the Upper East Side, her real estate portfolio was one out of a fairytale. Read on for a deep dive into the many residences of the one and only Jackie O.

Wildmoor, 55 La Forest Lane, East Hampton, New York

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, as she was known long before she became a Kennedy or an Onassis, spent her early years in East Hampton. Around the same time Jackie was born, her father John Vernou Bouvier III, or “Black Jack,” was suffering after the Wall Street crash. Luckily, Black Jack’s father owned Wildmoor, a shingled cottage in East Hampton that would make the perfect place to raise a family.

The shingled cottage exemplifies everything you’d imagine in a Hamptons summer house. The cozy six-bedroom home built in 1895 has character built into every facet, with elegant Palladian windows, a wraparound porch, and a solarium. It was often referred to by the Bouvier family as the “little house,” due to its compact layout and architecture.

Wildmoor is located at 55 La Forest Lane in East Hampton, off the coveted Apaquogue Road. The family owned the residence until 1960, when the famed Abstract Expressionist, Adolph Gottlieb, bought the property for its access to the ocean. His art studio remains today, adding history and character to an already iconic property. You can still spot the original wood paneling, claw-foot bathtub, and tiled fireplaces in listing photos from when Wildmoor last sold in 2021 for $6.8 million.

740 Park Ave, New York City

When Jackie was three, the family left their little house behind and headed west to the Upper East Side of New York City. Here, they moved into 740 Park Avenue, a 19-story building designed by Rosario Candela and developed by none other than Jackie’s maternal grandfather, James T. Lee. The Bouviers lived on the sixth and seventh floors of the limestone-clad co-op. According to an article by Business Insider, there was a period of time in which her father wasn’t able to afford to furnish the two-story unit, leaving Jackie and her sister ample space to roller skate from room to room. Her mother and father went on to get divorced in 1940.

740 Park Ave later became known as the Towers of Power, with some of the most iconic billionaires calling the address home. As of 2016, the average listing price per square foot was $3,666. And in 2017, after several years on the market, Jackie’s childhood home sold for $25.25 million.

Lasata, 121 Further Lane, East Hampton, New York

Summers for young Jackie were idyllic in every sense of the word. Once school was out of session, she had the privilege of spending the warmer months back east in the Hamptons.

The Bouviers expanded their property portfolio in 1925 when Jackie’s paternal grandfather, John Vernou Bouvier Jr., bought a sprawling East Hampton mansion known as Lasata, which translates to “place of peace” in the Algonquin language of the native Montaukett people. And a place of peace it was.

The grand estate was originally constructed in 1917 and designed by architect Arthur C. Jackson. Located at 121 Further Lane, the summer residence is just two short blocks from the picturesque Two Mile Hollow Beach and boasts roughly 8,500-square feet.

According to Mansion Global, the home last sold in 2023 for $52 million, more than double what it fetched in 2018.

The Merrywood Estate, 700 Chain Bridge Rd, McLean, Virginia

In 1942, Jackie’s mother, Janet Lee Bouvier, left New York and married an oil magnate by the name of Hugh D. Auchincloss. The blended family moved into Merrywood, a Georgian-style mansion in McLean, Virginia, just northwest of Washington, DC. It was here that Jackie wrote: “I always love it so at Merrywood—so peaceful…with the river and those great steep hills.” It was here that Jackie enjoyed playing tennis, swimming, and horseback riding.

According to a Francis York article, the 23,000-square-foot estate was built in 1919 on several acres of luscious land overlooking the Potomac River. The esteemed location offered uninterrupted views, privacy, and convenience to all that the nation’s capital had to offer. It boasted both an indoor and an outdoor swimming pool, a tennis court, nine bedrooms, and 11 full bathrooms.

The estate to this day remains an architectural marvel, as it still boasts original ornate plaster moldings, marble fireplaces, and a whimsical garden designed by famed landscape designer Beatrix Farrand, who was the niece of Edith Wharton.

According to an article by The Wall Street Journal, Merrywood most recently sold in 2018 to the Saudi Arabian Government for $43.5 million. The sale allegedly set a record for the most expensive home ever sold in the Washington, DC, area.

Hammersmith Farm, 225 Harrison Ave, Newport, Rhode Island

Jackie went on to study history and art at Vassar College, and proceeded to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in French literature from George Washington University. She spent her junior year studying abroad in Paris, to which we can attribute her European sensibility and style.

After college, the ambitious scholar started working for the Washington Times-Herald as a photographer, as told in an interview by CBS Sunday Morning. Thanks to her role as an “inquiring camera girl,” Jackie got to cover the 1953 coordination of Queen Elizabeth II in London. She went on to meet Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in 1961, but this time as the first lady.

In that same interview with correspondent Tracy Smith, author Carl Sferrazza Anthony, and Martha Bartlett, we learn about the fateful meeting between Jackie and John F. Kennedy. The two were introduced by Bartlett in 1951 at a dinner party in Georgetown. Sferrazza Anthony explains how JFK and Jackie’s meet-cute made the gossip columns, predicting a wedding would happen within the year. They weren’t too far off. It was on September 12, 1953, that the couple wed in Newport, Rhode Island.

The 1,200-person wedding reception was held at Hammersmith Farm, a Victorian mansion overlooking Narragansett Bay. The 28-room house was built in 1887 for John W. Auchincloss, the uncle of Jackie’s stepfather, Hugh D. Auchincloss. The estate remained an integral part of the Kennedy’s lives and quickly became an informal “summer White House” for the president and first lady. The Auchincloss family estate was a true escape from it all, boasting remarkable gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the man responsible for Central Park, Prospect Park, and the Biltmore Estate Grounds.

According to Forbes, the main house was sold in 1999 as a private residence for a reported $8 million.

3321 Dent Place, Georgetown, Washington DC

Jack and Jackie Kennedy signed their first lease as newlyweds in 1953. The four-bedroom home was located in Georgetown, a charming and affluent neighborhood along the Potomac River. According to Dwell, the home was built in 1942 and retains original period details, including a real wood burning fireplace, custom built-ins, wide-board Canadian oak floors, and an English garden–style backyard.

Hickory Hill, 1147 Chain Bridge Road, McLean, Virginia

In 1955, JFK and Mrs. Kennedy moved to Hickory Hill, a large Georgian brick home. The couple ultimately only lived in the home for one year before moving to Georgetown to be closer to the nation’s capital. They kept it in the family, and John’s younger brother Robert and his wife Ethel occupied the home for some time.

The Kennedy Compound, 111 Irving Avenue, Hyannis Port, Massachusetts

Three years into their marriage, Jacqueline Kennedy and JFK purchased a summer home at 111 Irving Avenue in Hyannis Port, a small residential village off the coast of Cape Cod. It would later become part of their famous Kennedy Compound. An article by The Wall Street Journal states that the couple paid $45,948 for the house, which was located next to the homes of John’s parents, Rose and Joe, as well as his brother Robert F. Kennedy.

The quaint seaside home was built around 1925, has 4,500 square feet of interior space, and sits on about 0.81 acres. It is also the site of many iconic photos taken of JFK and the family during his presidential campaign.

3307 N Street NW, Washington, DC

In 1958, JFK, Jacqueline B. Kennedy, and their daughter Caroline Kennedy moved back to Georgetown and into a brick Federal-style row house on N Street. The couple paid $82,000 for the building, and Jackie hired famed designer Sister Parish to decorate. It was here on N Street that the family welcomed their son, John F. Kennedy Jr., and Jack announced his candidacy for president of the United States. They stayed here until the inauguration.

The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC

After President John F. Kennedy was inaugurated in 1961, the family of four moved into the White House. Throughout her role as first lady, Jackie played an integral role in historic preservation of the presidential home. An article for the JFK Library details how Jackie visited the White House ahead of JFK’s presidency as the guest of first lady Mamie Eisenhower. She was instantly disappointed with its “dreary” appearance. In a 1961 interview, she stated: “Everything in the White House must have a reason for being there. It would be sacrilege merely to ‘redecorate’ it—a word I hate. It must be restored—and that has nothing to do with decoration. That is a question of scholarship.”

She again enlisted Sister Parish to help decorate the private residence and worked with Stéphane Boudin of Parisian firm Jansen and Henry du Pont, the first chairman of the Fine Arts Committee to restore many of the public rooms, including the Red Room, the Treaty Room, the Blue Room, and the Lincoln Sitting Room.

The first lady went on to salvage former White House furnishings and antiques from government storage facilities. “Her goal was to restore the state rooms of the White House to reflect the artistic and architectural history of the presidential mansion,” according to the JFK library. She even established a White House Fine Arts Committee and the White House Historical Association.

With her restoration almost complete, Jackie opened the doors of the White House to the whole world by conducting a televised tour for CBS. On the morning of February 14, 1962, millions of viewers got a glimpse into the executive mansion and its newly restored rooms. She later went on to become the only first lady to win an Emmy Award for her hour-long tour of the White House. The award was accepted by Lady Bird Johnson on behalf of Kennedy.

As first lady, Jackie was loved by many around the world. She visited countries all over, from Greece and Italy to India and Pakistan, showing great interest in other cultures. A letter from Clark Clifford, a respected lawyer and advisor to President Kennedy reads: “Once in a great while, an individual will capture the imagination of people all over the world. You have done this.”

3017 N Street, Washington, DC

After the death of her third child, Patrick Bouvier, as a newborn, and President Kennedy’s tragic assassination in 1963 in Dallas, the former first lady found comfort in moving back to Georgetown. She paid $175,000 for the 1794-built Newton Baker House, located on N Street, where the couple once lived.

Due to swarms of tourists who gathered outside after JFK’s assassination, Jackie put the home up for sale and moved back to New York. According to Georgetowner, the home (which has now been combined with two neighboring properties to form a compound) last sold at auction in 2023 for $15.1 million. (TTR Sotheby’s International Realty listed the property and sold it in partnership with Sotheby's Concierge Auctions.)

1040 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York

After leaving Washington, Jackie settled back into Manhattan life by purchasing a 14-room apartment at 1040 Fifth Avenue, overlooking Central Park and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The limestone apartment building was designed in 1930 by Rosario Candela, who is known for building some of New York’s most iconic luxury buildings, according to a Vanity Fair video..

The now family of three moved into the penthouse apartment on the 15th floor. According to a blueprint of the apartment, Jackie’s new home had maid’s rooms, a library, three fireplaces, and a balcony overlooking the park. With her she brought furnishings and art she’d collected over time, some from the White House. She is said to have bought art she loved, rather than as an investment. Her home had a curated and collected feel to it, with endless books, skirted sofas, and a slew of table lamps for ambiance.

In 1968, Jackie married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, becoming Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, or as we now know her, Jackie O. Throughout the rest of her life, Jackie went on to continue her work as a scholar and philanthropist. In addition to restoring the White House back to its glory days, Jackie is also credited with saving Grand Central Terminal in New York City. According to a Bloomberg article, the landmark was nearly destroyed by a redevelopment project in 1975, until the former first lady stepped in and ultimately saved the Beaux Arts building. After writing a letter to the mayor and hosting a press conference in the Oyster Bar, her work paid off. In addition to saving the train station from destruction, we also have her to thank for clearing away decades of nicotine soot and restoring the terminal’s celestial ceiling we all know and love today.

She went back to work in 1975, but this time as a book editor for Viking Press and later Doubleday. According to Town and Country Magazine, “Jackie believed that the author was the star of the book, and she insisted on staying in the background.” Though Jackie was hardly ever in the background of any story, her refined demeanor and grace are something we can admire to this day.

Jackie lived at 1040 Fifth Ave until her death in 1994. She is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. There is currently an exhibit on first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. The exhibit includes cherished pieces of American history, including certain possessions of the first lady, such as her Emmy Award and the camera she used when working for the Washington Times-Herald.