JFK's mortgage note for his Cape Cod 'Summer White House' is up for bid. Read the details

A rare piece of American memorabilia tied to the Hyannisport home of John F. Kennedy is now up for grabs to the highest bidder.

The item is a mortgage note between JFK and his father, Joseph Kennedy Sr., dating to 1957, the year after JFK just missed winning his party's nomination for vice president under Adlai Stevenson. It was three years before JFK declared his own candidacy, and four years before he was inaugurated.

RR Auction, a Boston firm that deals with rare manuscripts, autographs and historic artifacts, is also auctioning a number of other Kennedy-related items in commemoration of JFK's May 29 birthday.

"It was consigned to us within the last two to three months," said RR Auction Executive Vice President Bobby Livingston on Monday. "We're in Boston so we're known for selling Kennedy family autographs and artifacts. That's how we came to have it."

The document, he said, is privately owned.

A 'very rare' Kennedy document

As Kennedy collectibles go, the item is particularly noteworthy. "It's very rare to see a document between JFK and his father," Livingston said.

The one-page, typed note — still stapled into its original blue legal folder — outlines a promise by JFK to pay back $50,000 to his father within five years for the purchase of 111 Irving Ave. in Hyannisport. The sprawling 9-bed, 6.5 bath, 4,484-square-foot house built in 1925 would become known as "the Summer White House" during Kennedy's presidency. The note, dated Jan. 2, 1957, is signed by JFK.

The agreement specifically reads, "On the 2nd day of January, 1962, for value received, I promise to pay Joseph P. Kennedy of North Ocean Boulevard, Palm Beach, Florida, or order, the principal sum of Fifty Thousand ($50,000.00) Dollars, without interest.”

A written note scrawled at the bottom indicates a payment in full dated Sept. 23, 1957, just more than nine months after the loan agreement was made.

Mortgage note 'holds the heart' of the Kennedy compound

The home facing Nantucket Sound which JFK bought with his wife, Jacqueline, is behind Joseph Kennedy Sr.'s house and became part of what is now the famed Kennedy compound. The compound includes neighboring properties acquired by JFK's brothers and sisters: Ted, Robert and Eunice.

Livingston said the fact that the mortgage note is associated with the storied Kennedy compound makes it even more extraordinary. It gives what he thinks is a fascinating glimpse into the private lives of the family. He said he finds it interesting that Joseph Kennedy Sr., one of the richest men in the country at the time, gave a loan to his son to purchase the house, and then held the house as security against the loan, rather than gifting the house outright.

"His father is lending the money to buy the house, but he expects to be fully repaid, and I think that's an interesting insight into the family," Livingston said.

Even without knowing the specifics surrounding the agreement — whether the father insisted on being paid back, or JFK refused to take a handout and insisted on paying the loan — is "an interesting dynamic" in such a wealthy family, Livingston said.

“It’s exceedingly rare and important," he said. "This document holds the heart of the compound that has been ingrained in the public’s collective memory of America’s first family, home to some of the most tragic and triumphant events in their lives.”

A special place where JFK went when he had 'a tough decision to make.'

For JFK, the house was not just a retreat, but also served as a headquarters for his campaign and presidency. It was the scene not only of family gatherings, but also many political meetings and press conferences, and where he could find peace for thinking. The house was a special place for Kennedy, who had spent many childhood days on Cape Cod at his parents' nearby home. According to the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum, Joseph Kennedy Sr. rented the Malcolm Cottage at the end of Marchant Avenue in 1926 and bought it two years later for $25,000, putting on additions and renovating.

JFK once said of his Cape Cod home, "I always come back to the Cape and walk on the beach when I have a tough decision to make."

Today, the house at 111 Irving Ave. remains in the Kennedy family under the ownership of JFK's nephews Edward M. Kennedy Jr. and Timothy Shriver, and the Edward M. Kennedy Jr. 2011 Trusts for Children. According to town assessing records, the property's assessed value is now $3,772,600 — a little more than 75 times its original purchase price.

JFK ephemera 'still has strong interest' among collectors

The 1957 mortgage note for Kennedy's home is considered to be in "fine" condition and has an estimated value topping $4,000. Bidding opened on April 26 and will close on Wednesday, May 15. As of Tuesday, the item had attracted 10 bids, with the last high bid at $2,400.

Livingston said "anything JFK-related still has strong interest in a collectors' world."

"The Kennedy family is the closest we have to American royalty to certain people of a certain generation," he said.

Private documents and artifacts related to JFK and his family are in the hands of many private collectors, though most presidential items are usually held by institutions such as the Library of Congress and JFK Presidential Library.

The special JFK birthday auction includes close to 50 items, including signed photographs, a family-signed book, a knife from the president's inaugural cake celebration, and original pages from his Peace Corps legislation.

Heather McCarron can be reached at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on X @HMcCarron_CCT

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: JFK mortgage note for Hyannisport 'Summer White House' up for auction