Hickory Hill (McLean, Virginia)

For other uses, see Hickory Hill (disambiguation).

Hickory Hill is a large brick house in McLean, Virginia, in the United States, believed to have been built ca. 1840 (though the Fairfax County DTA page lists the date as 1870). The land on which it is built is part of a Lee family tract of land called Langley. General George B. McClellan reportedly commandeered Hickory Hill as temporary headquarters during the American Civil War, though this may not be accurate: on ordinance maps of Northern Virginia, 1865, there was no evidence of any structure on the property.

The house has been the home of notable public figures. In July 1941, it became the home of newly appointed United States Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson and his wife, Irene, who, in 1955, after his death, sold Hickory Hill to United States Senator John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline. After the 1956 Democratic National Convention, the Kennedys sold the house to John's brother Robert F. Kennedy and his wife, Ethel, who had a growing family (eventually eleven children). While he lived at Hickory Hill, Robert Kennedy became Attorney General of the United States, in 1961; a United States Senator, in 1965; and a presidential candidate, in 1968.

Expanded by Robert Kennedy's family, the house was for sale since 2004, initially at an asking price of $25 million, but the property was withdrawn from the market November 2008. It was sold December 2009 to an unidentified entity or individual for $8.25 million. It is currently undergoing a complete renovation.

In 1980-1982, the property was nominated for the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places and is currently listed as one.

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Hickory Hill additional information