Up for bid: Jackie Kennedy's notes on 'dream' house — built just before assassination
"You have done the most fantastic job & everyone agrees that house is really a dream. One could not wish for anything more perfect — if only we could live in it all year long! & Jack loves it. So bravo."
— Handwritten letter by Jackie Kennedy (undated)
"The only thing I am worried about in the room partitions is Jack's closet for dressing shelves, which make his room so narrow and, I am afraid, may make the furniture placement difficult so that he will not enjoy that fantastic view."
— Typed letter on White House stationery by Jackie Kennedy, dated December 14, 1962
"This house may not be perfectly proportioned — but it has EVERYTHING — all the places we all need to get away from each other — so husband can have meetings — children watch TV — wife paint or work at desk — nurse have own room — help a place to sit — all things so much bigger houses don't have. I think it's brilliant!"
— Handwritten letter by Jackie Kennedy (undated)
"It really looks ideal. I cannot wait to see the place in October! We will come there the minute I get back from Greece."
— Typed letter on White House stationery by Jackie Kennedy, dated September 30, 1963, about six weeks after the death of her 2-day-old son, Patrick
For a couple of years ending in 1963, Jackie Kennedy immersed herself in designing a Virginia escape for her young family that she hoped could rival the Kennedy compound in Massachusetts so beloved by her husband.
The president did not want the new house. But his wife — who had to compete not only with his tight-knit and powerful Kennedys but with JFK's paramours and of course his presidential responsibilities — persisted. His father even footed the bill, which ballooned to $127,000 from what was supposed to be a budget under $40,000.
Unexpectedly, the retreat also became a place for JFK, Jackie, John Jr. and Caroline to heal after the death of baby Patrick, whom Jackie delivered six weeks early in August 1963. He lived only two days.
The family spent three weekends in a row at the home starting Oct. 26, 1963, and President John F. Kennedy began to thaw. He complimented the house within his wife's earshot, and a friend observed that the couple seemed "very cozy." Another friend, Bill Walton, said Jackie had told him, "I think we're going to make it. I think we're going to be a couple. I've won."
Yet those three weekends were the only trips the family would ever make to the home. On Nov. 22, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated. His widow took their children there to grieve, then sold it a year later.
The effort that she lavished on the property is documented in an archive hitting the auction block on Thursday. The collection represents virtually every aspect of design and construction, including handwritten letters from the first lady on yellow lined paper, a few sketches in her hand, and images torn from home magazines with Jackie's notes scribbled on them. Most of the pieces are held in three fat three-ring binders.
The minimum bid is $500 with RR Auction.
As it happens, the estate itself is also on the market, and has been since for more than a year. Yahoo Homes wrote about it in 2013, when it was listed at $10,995,000, but it's now marked down to $7,950,000, and the owner is said to be eager for offers.
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