Hammersmith
In the 1990s, Hammersmith Farm in Newport opened for tours, and we made the trip to see it. The estate is best known as the childhood summer home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and as the site of the wedding reception following her marriage to John F. Kennedy in 1953. After the ceremony of St. Mary’s Church, more than a thousand guests gathered on the sweeping lawns of the estate overlooking Narragansett Bay, making it one of the most celebrated society weddings of its time.
The house itself was part of the estate owned by Jackie’s stepfather, Hugh Dudley Auchincloss, Jr, and her mother, Janet Lee Auchincloss. For Jackie and her sister, Hammersmith Farm was not just a grand Newport property but a place of summers, family gatherings, and the kind of coastal setting that Newport has long been known for.
For a brief period after the property left the Auchincloss family, the estate was opened to the public as a historic attraction, allowing us to tour the house and walk the grounds. It returned to private residence and the tours ended. Walking through the house and looking out over the broad lawns gave us a glimpse into the personal side of a family whose lives were so often lived in the public eye.
Read More
Read More From Nancy
John Brown House
Perched on College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, the John Brown House stands as one of the finest surviving examples of 18th-century American architecture. It also is a powerful reminder of wealth, ambition and the moral complexity of early American life. John Brown was one of Providence’s most prominent citizens in the late 1700s. Brown […]
Gilbert Stuart Birthplace
Gilbert Stuart went on to fame as the portrait artist of Geroge Washington, the very image that appears on every dollar bill. Our first visit to this site was during my homeschooling days. Visiting historic houses was a part of our homeschooling adventures, and I would purposely seek out places like this, homes where history felt real […]
Beechwood
One of the highlights of visiting New York Harbor was taking the ferry to Governors Island. Although millions of people admire the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, far fewer make the short boat ride to this remarkable island. As the skyline of Manhattan faded behind us, it became easy to appreciate why Governors Island […]
