Jean Kennedy Smith, the longest-surviving sibling of President John F Kennedy, is selling her holiday home in the swish Hamptons on Long Island, asking $35 million.
The 90-year-old’s 10-acre estate in Bridgehampton comprises two adjoining properties: a waterfront home asking $20 million, and a cottage with a pool asking $15 million. It’s expected that new owners will demolish the main house, which is considered dated, and build a substantially larger home.
Smith, a former diplomat who served as the US ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama for her work with people with disabilities. One of her children, William Kennedy Smith, was acquitted of rape in an infamous case in Palm Beach, Florida, in 1991, and went on to found Physicians Against Landmines.
Although Hyannis, Massachusetts, is the home of the celebrated Kennedy compound, the Hamptons has strong associations with the family too. Jackie Kennedy Onassis’s childhood estate, named Lasata, sold for $35 million.
Built in 1850, the main house at Kennedy Smith’s Bridgehampton estate is 6,000 sq ft and comes with nine bedrooms and six bathrooms, on 4.9 acres. An additional four-bed cottage sits on 5.27 acres.
The Hamptons is a favourite holiday destination of the rich and famous, as well as New York’s “it” crowd; it is actually composed of about 20 villages, each with its own flavour. Despite the need for a substantial refurb and very deep pockets, the implicit attraction for buyers will no doubt be the opportunity to buy into a little slice of the United States’ most famous dynasty.
