John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS Landscape: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site
Arakelian A, Brown MC, Layton TW. 2025. John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS Landscape: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 650032. National Park Service. NPS Northeast Regional Office, Boston, Massachusetts / CRIS-CL Database
The John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site, located in the Coolidge Corner neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts, is a 0.09-acre property that preserves the birthplace and childhood home of the country’s thirty-fifth President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy (b. 1917–d. 1963). The site is located on the south side of 83 Beals Street in a residential development surrounded by homes on its northeast, southeast, and southwest sides. The property consists of a two and one half-story Colonial Revival house built in 1909 and is surrounded by small front, side, and rear yards and fencing. A large plane-tree extends over the street and shades the front lawn. A collection of evergreen shrubs and a privet hedge frame the front yard, which contains a commemorative marker installed by the Town of Brookline in 1961, a flagpole installed in 1969 after the dedication ceremony, and park signs. The side yard is accessed by a concrete walk, which leads to the basement visitor entrance. The rear yard is predominantly turf and ringed by deciduous trees and shrubs and an evergreen tree. Flowering annuals add color by the commemorative marker and along the fence line. The site is presently accessed by the public through a seasonal tour program, which includes tours of the home and of the neighborhood. The house was refurbished by the Kennedys between 1966 and 1969 to reflect the birthplace in 1917, as remembered by the President’s mother, Rose Kennedy. The site is characterized by features from the Kennedy’s period of residence in 1914 to 1920, as well as from the 1960s when the property was enhanced by the Town of Brookline to recognize its significance as the President’s birthplace and when the property was repurchased by the Kennedy family as a memorial to John F. Kennedy. The site was formally dedicated on May 29, 1969 and is a designated National Historic Landmark.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Arakelian, Adrine; Brown, Margie; Layton, Timothy
- Date of Issue
- 2025
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- JOFI , NER
- Keywords
- Historic Site, John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site, John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS Landscape, Monument (Marker, Museum (Exhibition Hall)., Plaque), Political and Military Affairs After 1945, Shaping the Political Landscape, Single Family House, Social History, United States As Leader Of The Free World