Kathleen Townsend Kennedy, the 74-year-old niece of President John F. Kennedy, has listed her cute and cozy Cape Cod home for $1.6 million, Realtor.com reported on May 15.
Townsend is the daughter of JFK’s second-youngest brother, Robert F. Kennedy. She explained her decision to sell the home to the Boston Globe, telling them she had purchased the place in the hopes of recreating “the wonderful youth” she experienced enjoying Cape Cod vacations for her children and grandchildren.
Townsend told the outlet she’d been hoping to create a place where “they could sail, they could walk on breakwater, and it would be, you know, wonderful summers.”
She wistfully reflected on why her vision did not come to fruition, saying, “”I wanted it to be a place where you could have a number of people enjoy themselves and use the beach and be in a safe place. I had this wonderful dream. … But not all dreams work, right?”
The sale price is slightly higher than the $1.28 Townsend paid for the property, which sits in the Breakwater Shores neighborhood, in December 2023.
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s Hyannis Port Home is a Short Walk from the Beach
The home Townsend just put up for sale is located within a few minutes’ walk from access to a deeded private beach, the listing says. It is a 7-minute drive from the Kennedy family’s longtime 5-bedroom Hyannis Port compound.
The listing photographs show the love and care Townsend put into renovating the home in hopes of using it as a family gathering spot.
She outfitted the living area with cozy floral couches and added seating for at least 14 people to the kitchen. One of the bedrooms includes a fun 3-person kids’ bunk bed, while the basement was renovated to provide extra sleeping and sitting space.
The listing boasts that the charming residence overlooks a pond and “offers coastal living with peaceful water views and glimpses of the ocean beyond.”
The backyard contains a spacious firepit circle.
Taylor Swift Also Once Bought & Sold a House in Hyannis Port Near Townsend’s Mom
Taylor Swift is the former owner of 27 Marchant Avenue in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Variety reported on the sale back in August 2012, saying the singer’s new pad was located across from the home of the late Ethel Kennedy. Ethel, who died in 2024, was Townsend’s mother. The Variety report about Swift’s purchase says the popstar struck up a friendship with Ethel in 2011, and the pair was once spotted holding hands at the Sundance Film Festival, which was featuring a documentary on Ethel’s life.
Swift even wrote a song, “Starlight,” about Ethel’s romance with her husband, Robert F. Kennedy. The song appeared on the 2012 album “Red.”
The songstress told the Wall Street Journal that she started working on the song before ever meeting Ethel, and that she was connected to Ethel by Ethel’s daughter, Rory, who met Swift after attending one of her concerts. She said Rory told her Ethel “would love to meet you.”
The next year, Swift was photographed for the first time with Connor. The former couple shared a summer romance that got a lot of paparazzi coverage.
