John F Kennedy - Prince's Gate, London, UK
N 51° 30.101 W 000° 10.324
30U E 696269 N 5709408
Quick Description: The house was offered to the United States government as a residence for their ambassador in 1921 and was used as such from 1929-1955. During this time John F Kennedy's father was the ambassador and the family lived here.
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 8/13/2013 10:41:23 AM
Waymark Code: WMHTM6
Views: 0
Long Description:
To the right of the main door there is a blue plaque that
reads:
John
Fitzgerald
Kennedy
President
United States of
America
1961 - 1963
lived here
Wikipedia
tells us about the building:
After the Great War the house was
offered to the American Government as a home for their ambassadors and this
offer was accepted in 1921. The house was first used for this purpose in
1929, and this use continued with one interval until 1955. Official business
was not conducted at the house, but at the Embassy in Grosvenor Square. The
American architect Thomas Hastings was employed to refurbish the building
and remodel the façade. As part of this he added images of the heads of
Native Americans in the keystones of the arches over the ground floor
windows. Hastings transformed the façade in Beaux-Arts style and added a
grand staircase. He also modified rooms on the lower two floors to make them
more suitable for entertaining.
Eight ambassadors lived in the house. The first of these was Charles Gates
Dawes, who lived there from 1929 to 1932. The Dawes Plan was named after him
and he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Before he moved to London he was
Vice President of the United States. He was succeeded for a short time in
1932 by the banker Andrew Mellon. Like John Pierpoint Morgan, Mellon was a
major art collector and for a time his collection was housed at Prince's
Gate. Mellon was followed by Robert Worth Bingham who served until 1937; he
was the ambassador who had the longest residence in the house.
Next came Joseph Kennedy, father of the future President of the United
States, John F. Kennedy. During the Second World War, the ambassador was
John Winant, although he did not live in the house, which remained vacant
throughout the war. Winant resigned in 1946 and the following year was
succeeded by Lewis Douglas, who lived in the house until 1950. The next
ambassador was Walter Gifford who served until 1953 when he was succeeded by
Winthrop Aldrich. By 1955 a large block of flats had been built next to the
house that overlooked and dominated its terrace and the garden behind it.
This was considered to be a security risk so the house was sold and the
American ambassadors lived elsewhere.