Hammersmith Farm
Hammersmith Farm Main HouseHammersmith Farm was the summer home of the young Jackie Kennedy. She was married to John Kennedy here. There were over 2,000 guests at the reception. The house was recently sold to the owner of Munsingware [Fruit of the Loom] and will no longer be open to the public. For now tours are conducted daily. A 'recommended' visit.
2000/10/11 - The following appeared in the Desert Sun:
Kennedy summer White House Items to be sold
Newport, R.I. - Hugh D. Auchincloss III waves off an offer to look in the catalog. So it stays on the table as he sits in his home on the property of Hammersmith Farm.
"I know what's in it," he says. It contains everything that was once next door, in the "Big House," where for decades people of power and prestige visited and lived. It's where Auchincloss himself grew up, as did his step-sister Jackie Kennedy Onassis. In fact, she had her wedding reception here, and her husband made the place his summer White House.
Hammersmith Farm, a popular Newport attraction since it was opened to the public in 1978, closed its doors to tourists last Nov. 1 and is being transformed into a private residence once again. All its furniture and furnishings are to be auctioned off, marking the end of an era, a Diaspora of Americana and a last look at Camelot.
Updated 2000/10/11