Camelot for sale

John and Jacqueline Kennedy’s furniture, ceramic, glass and jewelry collection and paintings, which brought happiness and comfort to their lives, are up for bidding at Sotheby’s on February 15, 16 and 17 in New York City. (By the way the Philippine representative of Sotheby’s is Kim Camacho.)

Caroline Kennedy’s introductory letter in the catalogue, The Kennedy Family Homes, reads:

"After my mother died in 1994, my brother and I were faced with the task of deciding what to do with her possessions, and after careful consideration, we sold some of them in 1996. In the intervening years, and the death of my brother, I found myself again with more houses and belongings than I could possibly use or enjoy.

"As we did before, I have given anything of historical significance to the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation which will make it accessible to scholars and to the public, and I have kept those things that mean the most to me and to my children.

"The objects in this book and the places they represent are filled with memories, particularly the ones from Hyannis Port where our family still spends such happy times. These objects link directly to my parents’ time in the White House. Not only are there many photographs in which the interior of the house looks quite the same, but many of the pieces were acquired by my grandfather from Gerald Shea, an early collector of American furniture and decorative arts.

"Other objects come from our house in New Jersey where we spent many weekends from the time we moved to New York until the 1990s. My mother’s love of horses and fox hunting could be seen throughout the house and the stable. In addition, there are objects from her cottage in Virginia, our house on Martha’s Vineyard and the New York apartment which we once thought to keep but found it impossible as life moved forward. And as always there are books, and books. No wonder my strongest image is of my mother reading, whether on a winter afternoon in the city or a summer evening by the sea.

"I hope these objects, books and furniture will bring a new set of memories as they find new homes, and I hope those memories are as happy as my own."

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The following is a brief description of the Kennedy homes, lifted from the catalogue Property from Kennedy Family Homes:

Hyannis Port

The shingle-clad residence in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts was purchased by Senator and Mrs. Kennedy in 1956. Adjacent to two other homes owned by the Kennedy family, the three houses formed a compound on six acres on Nantucket Sound. The house is typical of many Cape Cod vacation homes with a traditional layout with large downstairs rooms and rambling smaller bedrooms upstairs. . . Jacqueline Kennedy furnished it with American furniture, hooked rugs, ceramics and sandwich glass particularly those made in New England. This residence served as a summer White House while President Kennedy was in office. It was here also that John F. Kennedy learned he had been elected President when his daughter woke him up saying, "Good morning Mr. President."

1040 Fifth Avenue

For 30 years Mrs. Onassis lived at 1040 Fifth Avenue, at the corner of 85th Street, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The 17-story building was designed by Rosario Candela, widely considered to be one of the foremost designers of luxury apartment buildings during the 1920’s and early 1930’s. The apartments are very large; there were only 27 units in the building. The living room, dining room, library and master bedroom looked out on the Central Park Reservoir, which was later named for Mrs. Onassis in her memory. There were five large principal rooms, five large bedrooms and extensive staff quarters. The decor was loosely based on a Gallic inspiration, with French fabrics, paneling and furniture – true to her great interest in that country.

Mrs. Onassis loved having fires in the three fireplaces and simple arrangements of cornflowers in the spring, dried hydrangea in the fall and lady apples in the winter.

Martha’s Vineyard

The house on Martha’s Vineyard was located on a rise overlooking the Atlantic ocean. It was on a large piece of almost completely undeveloped property – all dunes, tall grass and woods. Mrs. Onassis bought this property in 1979 and saved it from being divided into multiple lots. The house was inspired by the vernacular of a New England sea side cottage: a shingled exterior with a central font door and chimney. Apart from a vegetable garden, a tennis court and a cut meadow, little was done to change the landscape. On the ground floor of the house, the major rooms opened directly towards the sea: there were extensive patios, decks and a pergola. The interior walls were painted white or in the master bedroom and entrance hall, pure, muted terra cotta.

New Jersey

Beginning in 1965, Mrs. Kennedy began to spend weekends with her children about an hour from New York, in the heart of the New Jersey hunt country.

The house has a large room used as the living room and dining room, a library with floor to ceiling bookcases, and several bedrooms. In addition, there was an area off the kitchen where riding boots and tack were kept. This house was the setting for many Thanksgiving and birthday celebrations.

Virginia

In the 1990s Mrs. Onassis began to spend more time riding in Virginia with friends and in the countryside where she had fox hunted as First Lady. She rented a small cottage near Middleburg, not far from "Wexford," the house she had built when President Kennedy was in the White House. The cottage was furnished with country antiques and French toile wallpaper and provided an escape from the city, and a return to a community filled with happy memories.