Hammersmith Farm is a Victorian mansion and estate located at 225 Harrison Avenue in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It was the childhood home of First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, and the site of the

reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another ...

for her wedding to U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy in September, 1953.

History

Hammersmith Farm's 28-room main house was built in 1887 for John W. Auchincloss, the great-grandfather of

Hugh D. Auchincloss Hugh Dudley Auchincloss Jr. (August 15, 1897 – November 20, 1976) was an American stockbroker and lawyer who became the second husband of Nina S. Gore, mother of Gore Vidal, and also the second husband of Janet Lee Bouvier, the mother of Firs ...

(1897–1976), Jacqueline Kennedy's stepfather. It was erected on what had been originally known as "Hammersmith Island," possibly named after the English hometown of

William Brenton William Brenton (c. 1610–1674) was a colonial President, Deputy Governor, and Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and an early settler of Portsmouth and Newport in the Rhode Island colony. Austin and other hist ...

, the 17th-century governor of Rhode Island who established the first farm on the site in 1640.

During Kennedy Administration

During a stay at Hammersmith in late September 1961, President Kennedy announced that John McCone would become the new Director of the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

. Additionally, Kennedy signed Public Law 87-293, the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John ...

Act of 1961.

Post-presidency

The main house remained in the Auchincloss family until the 1976 death of Hugh Auchincloss. Janet Lee Auchincloss (1907–1989), Jacqueline Kennedy's mother, sold the main house and moved into one of the guesthouses on the farm, called "The Castle". There was another guest house on the farm built to resemble a windmill. A group of investors bought main house in 1977, and opened it for public tours and special events.

Fruit of the Loom Fruit of the Loom is an American company that manufactures clothing, particularly casual wear and underwear. The company's world headquarters is in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Since 2002 it has been a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. Products ma ...

executive William F. Farley bought it in 1997 for $6.675 million.

Restoration

In 1999, Farley sold the main house for over $8 million. The new owner restored the failing building and converted the house back to private use. It had not been lived in since 1974 (over 25 years), and had fallen into serious disrepair. Much of the original plumbing was inoperable, and old electrical wiring had frayed due to age and rodent damage. Bricks were coming loose and wood rot was everywhere. Metal fixtures were rusted or corroded due to the salt air. Each year the building was listing a little more northward, toward Fort Adams. A major restoration was required to save the damaged structure. Major structural flaws necessitated the removal of one end of the building and the installation of steel and wooden beams for support. The house had suffered from decades of wood rot and mold from condensation and leaking windows. Outside, the brick was bowing due to many successive winters of freezing and expansion. Popping and falling bricks during the winter was routine. The interiors were painstakingly disassembled and numbered and new plumbing, HVAC, and wiring were installed. Later, the numbered moldings and fixtures were replaced or replicated if needed, in their original positions so the historic rooms looked exactly as they had when the building was constructed in 1887, save for the electricity and modern plumbing. The exterior was restored with equal sensitivity to the original structure. Working with Gubelman and the Historic District Commission, the team removed metal and plexiglass porches, reset brick to match the original, and removed the light green paint used to hide the mismatched brick from decades of repairs. Windows were rebuilt to protect the house from the fierce winter winds from the Atlantic Ocean. New shingles and roof were installed following the original architectural plans, and using the many sketches and photographs taken of the building over its 120-year history. Fortunately, the building had been photographed from numerous angles and vantage points over the many decades, and a clear visual history existed as a guide with the goal to restore the farm as closely as possible to the appearance one might have enjoyed in 1888. Around half of the original furnishings were returned to the Auchincloss family under a prior agreement, and the family sold them off in a

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémi ...

auction in 2000, which fetched $233,620. Image:Hammersmith Farm garden,1930.jpg, Hammersmith Farm garden, 1930. File:President Kennedy with John Jr. after arriving at Hammersmith Farm in Rhode Island, August 1962.jpg, President John F. Kennedy arriving at Hammersmith Farm in 1962. File:Hammersmith Farm, 1968.jpg, Hammersmith Farm, 1968.

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