EXCLUSIVE: JFK's Secret Family Life at Kennedy Summer Home Revealed
JFK's private family moments at the Kennedy summer home offer a rare glimpse into his personal life.
Nov. 6 2026, Published 6:15 a.m. ET
If the Kennedy myth is a modern-day incarnation of Camelot, then the family compound in Hyannis Port, on Cape Cod, Mass., was their castle.
In the pictures taken there of John F. Kennedy, his wife, Jacqueline [Kennedy], and their kids and extended family, they always appear sun-kissed, relaxed and happy, whether playing touch football on the lawn, reading to their children, or sailing on Nantucket Sound, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Making Memories
John F. Kennedy often returned to Hyannis Port to relax and make important decisions.
"I always come back to the Cape and walk on the beach when I have a tough decision to make," JFK once said. "The Cape is the one place I can think and be alone."
Jack's ties to Hyannis Port stretched back to when his parents bought a local cottage in 1928. The home – now a three-house compound – is where JFK spent summers as the Kennedys became a part of the close-knit community.
"It had an enormous impact on him," said Kate Storey, author of White House by the Sea: A Century of the Kennedys at Hyannis Port.
It was there, especially after Jack was elected president, that the family went to recharge.
"It's a place they could be themselves," she said, "mostly because they were with the family."
To Jack and his siblings, the white clapboard house, with its lawn extending to the water, was home. It's where they learned to swim, sail and had movie nights in the basement. Jacqueline was first invited as a guest in 1953 after she and Jack got engaged.
"It was a big deal when he brought Jackie," said Storey. "They had a big family July 4th weekend, and the whole community was excited she was there."
Jackie Finds Her Kennedy Family Footing
Author Kate Storey said Jacqueline Kennedy first visited the family compound after her engagement to JFK in 1953.
Jackie may have been nervous, however. A Time photographer documenting her first visit "described her as a little bit reserved," said Storey, but he also noted she seemed "most comfortable out on the water." And Jackie recognized that for her future husband, "it was really the boat that relaxed him the most."
The future first lady worked to fit in with the athletic Kennedy crew, joining baseball games and eventually learning to slalom water-ski.
"She was trying to get in there and know the family," Storey said, "and there was a sweet moment when the sisters pulled her aside and asked how the engagement happened."
Before long, she was as at home in Hyannis Port – where Jack gave his first speech as president-elect in 1960 – as the rest of her adopted clan.
Jackie's Cherished Kennedy Family Summers
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Caroline Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. spent summers at Hyannis Port with their parents during JFK's presidency.
"Neighbors remember Jackie walking along the street in her bare feet," shared Storey, "going down to pick up the newspaper and get ice cream."
JFK and Jackie brought their kids, Caroline and John Jr., to what was dubbed the "Summer White House" throughout his presidency, and Jackie continued to spend time there with them after her husband's death.
"It was really important to her that they spend time with their family," said Storey.
Today, Kennedy family members still relax on the six-acre estate surrounded by friends and neighbors who warmly recall JFK and Jackie's wonderful summers in Hyannis Port, where the house was, said Jack's youngest brother, Ted Kennedy, "alive with children and good times."
