In the summer of 2012, the Kennedys would do what they’d done throughout their storied history after the occurrence of great tragedy: by the grace of their God, they would pull together and get through it as a family. This healing would occur, as it always did, in their coming together at the compound on the Cape. Different this year, though, was the emergence of an unlikely character. She was a young woman who would provide not only much-needed distraction for all who were still grieving Mary’s death, but even a bit of romance for the teenaged son she’d left behind, Conor. This new player was the young, doe-eyed pop star Taylor Swift.
By the summer of 2012, Taylor Swift was twenty-two and incredibly successful, with millions of records sold and seven Grammys won. As it happened, she was also quite the Kennedy aficionado. Not only had she read numerous books about the family, she’d also seen a number of TV documentaries and miniseries about them. An avid collector of memorabilia, Ethel was her favorite, she explained, “because when you look back at the pictures of her and Bobby, they always look like they are having the most fun.” After seeing one photograph of the two at a dance in the 1940s, she said, “I kind of wrote a song from that place. I just was so in love with them.”
In the summer of 2011, upon reading that Taylor was a fan of her mother’s, Rory Kennedy reached out to her office to ask for concert tickets for her and her daughters—nine-year-old Georgia and seven-year-old Bridget. (She and Mark Bailey also had a four-year-old son, Zachary.) Swift’s office happily granted the request. After the show, the Kennedys went backstage to meet the pop star. An excited Taylor then told Rory about the song she’d written in honor of her parents. “I asked Rory if it would ever be possible for me to meet her mother,” Taylor recalled. “She said, ‘Sure. Here’s her number.’ Ethel was kind enough to have lunch and spend a few hours talking with me, and ever since then I’ve been so inspired by how full of life she is and the way she tells her story.”
A few months later, Rory invited Taylor to the Sundance Film Festival to see the documentary Ethel, which she had directed about her mother. So exuberant was Taylor on the red carpet posing with Ethel, a bemused Teddy Kennedy referred to her as “a Kennedy groupie.” Afterward, Ethel, who was eighty-three by this time, offered to host her in her home over the Fourth of July weekend. Taylor eagerly accepted.
Taylor then had what she thought was a great idea. She is known for her big Fourth of July soirées; they’re usually celebrations held on a sun-drenched beach, a splashy affair that is greatly anticipated by her friends. In all her reading about the Kennedys, Taylor had always been fascinated by Joe and Rose’s legendary Big House; she wondered if she could host her annual party there. She called Rory to ask, promising that this year she’d make sure it was a low-key affair. Understanding that staying at the legendary property would be thrilling for a young woman so fascinated by the Kennedys, Rory said she’d look into it.
By this time the deaths of Ted, Eunice, and Sarge had precipitated a sea change in Kennedy culture; life at the compound wasn’t quite the same. Ted had promised his mother, Rose, that when he died the Big House would be repurposed for charitable and educational programs. Therefore, in his will, he stipulated that the home be absorbed as a holding of the newly created Edward M. Kennedy Institute. “This is what Mrs. Rose Kennedy and Senator Kennedy wanted,” explained institute trustee Nick Littlefield, “that the house would continue to serve public purposes and be preserved for the American people.”
Ostensibly, the Big House would eventually be open to the public, though that seems unlikely for many years since there are still Kennedys living at the compound. For instance, Teddy Jr. now owns Jack and Jackie’s former residence—the President’s House—and lives there with his wife and family. Meanwhile, the Senator had bequeathed Patrick a structure akin to an apartment attached to the Big House. It’s small but functional, and Patrick had always loved it. He would remodel it beautifully in 2018 so that he and his family would be able to enjoy the summer months there. Other family members are scattered here and there; Ethel’s son Christopher—for instance—and his wife, Sheila, have a summer home on Squaw Island near where Joan Kennedy often summers.
Of course, Ethel still lives next door to the Big House in the home she’s owned for decades. In 2011, much to the surprise of many, she reluctantly sold Hickory Hill. She’d actually put the estate on the market in 2004 for $25 million, but it took seven years to unload it and not until she reduced the price to about $8 million. Leaving was incredibly emotional for Ethel given her cherished memories of her marriage to Bobby and the raising of their children together.
Ethel telephoned Ena Bernard to commiserate about the sale with someone she felt would truly understand. “She told my mother she had a lot of anxiety about letting the old place go, but that it was just too expensive to keep up and too big for her to stay in now that everyone had their own lives,” recalled Fina Harvin. “My mother understood. She loved Hickory Hill, too. ‘It will be with us, always,’ she told Mrs. Kennedy. ‘Everything that happened in that great big house is stitched into our hearts forever. So you can let it go now, Mrs. Kennedy. You can let it go.’”
Ethel also told Ena that one of the many heartbreaks connected to selling the family’s beloved homestead was knowing that it would probably be demolished due to its age and outdated amenities. She was correct. The new owners completely gutted the place. Now Ethel would split her time between the compound in Massachusetts and her home in Florida.
When Rory checked with Vicki about the possibility of Taylor Swift hosting a party at the Big House, she was told that it wasn’t possible because doing so would jeopardize the property’s tax-exempt nonprofit status. Though Taylor was disappointed, she still wanted to take Ethel up on her invitation to spend the holiday with the Kennedys. How could she resist?