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La Querida (mansion)

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La Querida as viewed from the ocean during the Kennedy family ownership (circa 1965)

La Querida[a] is a residence in Palm Beach, Florida. Completed in 1925, it was built in the Mediterranean Revival-style by well-known architect Addison Mizner.

Originally constructed for department store fortune heir Rodman Wanamaker, the home was most notably owned by the prominent Kennedy family for over 60 years. During the presidency of John F. Kennedy, the family retreat was used as a "Winter White House".

La Querida has been owned by several notable other individuals since the Kennedy family sold the property in 1995, including businessman John K. Castle and real estate investor Jane Goldman. La Querida is located at 1095 N. Ocean Boulevard.

Early history[edit]

Prominent South Florida architect Addison Mizner built La Querida in 1923 at a cost reported to be $50,000 for Rodman Wanamaker of Philadelphia, heir to the Wanamaker's Department Store fortune.[1] Following his death in 1928, all of Wanamaker's estate, which was valued at around $75 million, except for annuities was transferred to a trust.[2] That September, the home suffered major damage during the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane,[3]: 5  with The Palm Beach Post noting that "No chance remains of again utilizing the home of Rodman Wanamaker III, unless it is almost entirely rebuilt".[4] Charlker and Lund, Inc. began restoring La Querida in early October under a $60,000 contract with the expectation that work would be complete on January 1, 1929. The renovation also included the addition of a stronger seawall and a sunroom, as well as the enlargement of the living room and servants' quarters.[5]

The house remained mostly vacant in the winter seasons of 1931-1932 and 1932-1933, except for a few visits by the late Rodman Wanamaker's niece, Mary Brown Warburton, who was the daughter of Barclay Harding Warburton I and Mary Brown Wanamaker.[6]

Kennedy ownership[edit]

President Kennedy and the First Lady along with their children Caroline and John Jr. outside of the home in Easter of 1963

The Wanamaker family sold La Querida to Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. for $120,000 on June 30, 1933. At the time, a description in The Palm Beach Post noted that the property included 176 feet (54 m) of oceanfront, six master bedrooms, five bathrooms, and "spacious living quarters."[6]

Following their purchase, the home acted as a winter retreat for the family. The Kennedys usually only lived at La Querida around the Christmas and Easter holidays, staying at their compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts during the summer and in Bronxville, New York, while the children were in school.[7]: 31  One notable guest at the home during this period was James Roosevelt (eldest son of United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt) and his then-wife Betsey, who stayed at La Querida a few times, including in 1934 and 1935.[8][9] Kennedy Sr. also hired Maurice Fatio, an architect with several notable works, to design a two-floor car garage, pool pavilion, and tennis court. He also enlarged the estate by purchasing adjacent land.[10]

In 1955, then-United States Senator John F. Kennedy spent several months at the home in Palm Beach while recovering from a surgery necessitated by a spinal injury he suffered in World War II.[11] It is said that during his recovery at La Querida, Senator Kennedy wrote Profiles in Courage, a Pulitzer Prize-winning book.[10] Senator Kennedy also handwrote the first draft of his announcement speech for his candidacy for president of the United States in the upcoming 1960 election while at La Querida on April 1, 1959. The handwritten draft sold for $160,000 at an auction in September 2015.[12]

One week after being elected president of the United States in 1960, John F. Kennedy hosted an informal press luncheon at La Querida on November 15.[13] When president-elect Kennedy visited Palm Beach in December 1960, Richard Paul Pavlick nearly carried out an assassination attempt. Pavlick drove from New Hampshire to Palm Beach with a car full of dynamite.[14] While Kennedy was at La Querida preparing to leave for Sunday Mass at St. Edward's Catholic Church on December 11,[14][15] Pavlick waited outside the home and intended to crash his car into Kennedy's limousine. Pavlick decided to forgo his plan after noticing that Kennedy was accompanied by his wife and young children and decided to pick another day for the assassination attempt. However, on December 15,[14] the Palm Beach Police Department arrested him at the intersection of North County Road and Royal Poinciana Way after receiving information from the Secret Service.[15] Pavlick was charged with threatening to assassinate Kennedy, but after he was declared legally insane by federal judge Emett Clay Choate on December 2, 1963, charges were reduced to unlawful transportation of dynamite across state lines.[16]

In January 1961, Senator Kennedy, with the assistance of speechwriter Ted Sorensen, drafted much of his inaugural address at La Querida.[17] During his presidency, local and federal law enforcement uncovered an alleged plot by four pro-Castro Cubans to assassinate Kennedy and abduct his daughter Caroline, then three years old, around Easter 1961 while they stayed in Palm Beach.[18] Thereafter, Kennedy sometimes temporarily stayed at the home of Josephine Perfect Bay and Paul Michael Iogolevitch, such as in the 1961-62 and 1962-63 winter seasons.[19]

President Kennedy and the First Lady leaving Mass in Palm Beach in 1961

President Kennedy's final trip to Palm Beach occurred in mid-November 1963, during which he stayed at La Querida. There, Kennedy, special assistant to the president Ralph A. Dungan, and Peace Corps official Richard N. Goodwin discussed Latin American policy due to waning enthusiasm for his Alliance for Progress program among several officials in the region.[20] Kennedy's trip to La Querida turned out to be his last weekend alive, as he was assassinated days later in Texas.

Following Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.'s death in November 1969, several newspapers reported that the family intended to sell La Querida. In January 1970, however, the Kennedys stated that they did not plan to sell the estate and instead considered renting it out after significant renovations, before ultimately scrapping that idea as well.[21] During the next few decades, the house occasionally became associated with some drinking incidents involving Senator Ted Kennedy and later with William Kennedy Smith's 1991 rape trial.[22]

In the early morning hours of March 30, 1991, Smith rode with a woman he met at Au Bar in Palm Beach, later identified as Patricia Bowman, back to La Querida. Bowman then alleged that Smith raped her by the pool.[23] However, Smith argued that the encounter was consensual, with the trial resulted in his acquittal on December 11.[24]

1991 mugshot of William Kennedy Smith from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office

Subsequent ownership[edit]

The Kennedys placed La Querida on the real estate market in late 1993, although a sale did not occur until May 1995, about four months after Rose Kennedy's death.[22] John K. Castle, the CEO of Castle Harlan, purchased the house for approximately $5 million, below the asking price of $7 million.[25] An architect hired by Castle described the house as not having any significant renovations since 1928, other than electricity and plumbing. Castle stated his intentions to renovate La Querida but in a manner consistent with town guidelines for designation as a historic landmark.[22]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Sometimes erroneously referred to as La Guerida

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Dorothy Jacks (September 16, 2019). "Town of Palm Beach Values: Then and Now" (PDF). Government of Palm Beach County. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  2. ^ "Estate of Rodman Wanamaker Left in Trust Except for Annuities". The Palm Beach Post. March 29, 1928. p. 6. Retrieved May 14, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  3. ^ "Palm Beach Hurricane—92 Views". Chicago, Illinois: American Autochrome Company. 1928. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  4. ^ "Winter Homes at Beach Suffer Heavily; Hotels are Hard Hit". The Palm Beach Post. September 19, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved April 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  5. ^ "Work on Wanamaker Home is Under Way". The Palm Beach Post. October 7, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved May 14, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  6. ^ a b "Wanamaker Palm Beach Estate Is Bought by Joseph P. Kennedy". The Palm Beach Post. July 1, 1933. p. 1. Retrieved May 14, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  7. ^ Michael O'Brien (March 2005). John F. Kennedy: A Biography. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312357450. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  8. ^ "Palm Beach, Joseph P. Kennedy, Mrs. Joseph P. Kennedy, children, James Roosevelt, Betsey Cushing Roosevelt, Easter Sunday, 1 April 1934". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. April 1, 1934. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  9. ^ "James Roosevelt Flies to Florida: He Is Guest in Palm Beach of J.P. Kennedy, Who Came by Plane From New York". The New York Times. December 4, 1935. p. 30. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  10. ^ a b Darrell Hofheinz (June 18, 2020). "UPDATED: Former Kennedy estate sells for $70 million in Palm Beach, deed shows". Palm Beach Daily News. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  11. ^ "Kennedy Returning to Washington". The Palm Beach Post. January 1, 1956. p. 10. Retrieved April 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  12. ^ Laurie Hanna (September 30, 2015). "Handwritten first draft of JFK's speech announcing presidential bid sells for record $160,000". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  13. ^ Jack Ledden (November 16, 1960). "Profile Of Next President". The Palm Beach Post. p. 1. Retrieved April 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  14. ^ a b c Dan Lewis (December 6, 2012). "The Kennedy Assassin Who Failed". Smithsonian. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  15. ^ a b Eliot Kleinberg (March 23, 2015). "Post Time: Anti-Catholic postal worker planned to kill Kennedy in Palm Beach". The Florida Times-Union. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  16. ^ "'Human Bomb' Case Local Charge Filed". The Palm Beach Post. December 31, 1960. p. 12. Retrieved April 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  17. ^ Brian Domitrovic. "John F. Kennedy's Inauguration". Bill of Rights Institute. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  18. ^ "Kennedy Watch Is Tightened Following Reported Threat". The Anniston Star. United Press International. April 2, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved June 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  19. ^ Saul Pett (February 10, 1963). "The Ocean Side of North County Rd. in Palm Beach". Bridgeport Sunday Post. Associated Press. p. C-3. Retrieved June 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  20. ^ "JFK to Make Speeches Today in Florida Tour". The News & Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. Associated Press. November 18, 1963. p. 2. Retrieved June 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  21. ^ Maxine Cheshire (January 13, 1970). "Kennedy Home Not for Sale". Miami Herald. p. 3-B. Retrieved June 15, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  22. ^ a b c "Kennedys say 'ta-ta' to Palm Beach, sell famed house". Orlando Sentinel. The New York Times. May 31, 1995. p. C-4. Retrieved June 15, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  23. ^ "That Night in Palm Beach". Belleview-News Democrat. Belleville, Illinois. May 12, 1991. p. 5A. Retrieved July 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  24. ^ "Chronology". The Citizen Register. Ossining, New York. Associated Press. December 12, 1991. p. A12. Retrieved June 15, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  25. ^ "Kennedy mansion goes for $5 million". The Reporter. Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Associated Press. November 8, 1995. p. A3. Retrieved June 15, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon

External links[edit]

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