On The Block: Memorabilia From Jackie Kennedy’s Secret Dream House In Virginia
Author:Philip FerratoIn 1962, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy began building a house in Middleburg, Virginia, not far from the White House and in the middle of the fox hunting and horse country she loved, to serve as an intimate family retreat. President Kennedy, however, was not encouraging, and having come up against adverse publicity over her lavish spending, Jackie had to build the place in secret. The President’s father paid for the relatively modest project, and using local friends as agents, she supervised the construction from afar. The Kennedy family would spend only three weekends in the freshly-completed house before the President’s assassination.
An archive of more than 400 items documenting the project is open for bids this week in the Remarkable Rarities auction at RRAuction.com, one of the country’s leading auctioneers of presidential memorabilia. Offered as a single lot and covering the period 1961 to 1964, the archive includes ten letters from the First Lady, both handwritten and typed, along with extensive notes and documentation on the project, a oversized portfolio of the architects’ drawings, and official White House photography of the interior.
Currently the online bidding for the archive is at $888. Included are a number of pages torn from magazines, like the one below, with notes handwritten by Mrs. Kennedy.
RR Auction is one of the best sources for presidential and historical objects, including items like Truman Capote’s hand-notated manuscript for Breakfast at Tiffany’s which sold for over $300,000. The upcoming sale includes a lock of Abraham Lincoln’s hair and the Dallas Police booking file for Jack Ruby, presenting the opportunity to own his original fingerprints taken when he was booked for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald.
For more information:
Lot No. 2047- Jacqueline Kennedy Wexford House Archive
RR Auction
Through February 19, 2015
