A look inside JFK Jr.’s love nest and Carolyn Bessette in New York – realestate.com.au

The romance between political scion John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette, take center stage in an FX drama series that sheds new light on the “undeniable chemistry, whirlwind courtship and high-profile marriage of one of the 20th century’s most iconic couples.”

The FX series, Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, created by famed showrunner Ryan Murphy, will chart the ill-fated duo’s relationship from its earliest days in New York City, where they met in 1992 when he was working as a lawyer and she had a job as a publicist for fashion label Calvin Klein.

Photos of the show’s stars — Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Kelly — reveal that much of the miniseries was shot in the same neighborhood where the couple was routinely photographed and where they lived together until 1999, when they died in a horrific plane crash while traveling to Martha’s Vineyard.

The series features photos of the exterior of the real-life Manhattan apartment building where Kennedy purchased an apartment that would serve as their first (and only) marital home.

Anyone who has seen just a handful of the thousands of paparazzi photos taken of the couple will undoubtedly immediately recognize the exterior of the building, which was so often seen in the background of photos taken as they walked in and out of the property.

The heightened madness that surrounded Kennedy and Bessette looks set to play a major role in the FX drama, with previews hinting at the brutal toll media attention took on their romance.

The romance between political scion John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette, take center stage in a new FX drama series. Photo: NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

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Initially, the couple’s romance blossomed much like any other relationship between two young professionals in New York City, according to Elizabeth Beller, author of “Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy,” on which the FX show is based.

“The early years weren’t all that unusual for two people who met in New York City and were juggling careers. Carolyn was only 26 years old when she worked at Calvin Klein. She had a real community of friends and was busy with work,” Beller previously revealed to Entertainment Tonight.

“[Carolyn] was one of these people, especially, you know, new to New York City, who really loved taking full advantage of New York.

However, it would be two years before the pair entered into a relationship – and with that came a frenzy of speculation and public fascination, something Bessette reportedly found very difficult to deal with.

While JFK Jr. – the son of former President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie Bouvier – had long grown accustomed to living his life in the public eye, interest in his romance with Carolyn quickly skyrocketed, thrusting the couple into the bright, and often unwanted, spotlight.

Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Kelly star as Bessette and Kennedy in the show. Image: FX

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“In that life she had before, she had a real sense of freedom. She loved being out and about. She just really loved being with her friends,” Beller explained.

“She was a huge nurturer and so I think the fact that the press started waiting outside for her took away a lot of her joy. She saw fame as the thief of joy, especially when she was really into it, and there was no way of knowing that she would be under so much pressure from the paparazzi.”

Teaser clips for the FX showed her crumbling under the pressure of constant attention, telling the political heir that she wasn’t sure she was “cut out to be Mrs. JFK Jr.” to be’.

“Everything in my life has changed,” Pidgeon shouts at Kelly, before later falling to the ground in tears and shouting: “They won’t leave us alone.”

JFK Jr. and Bessette spent their entire marriage in a Tribeca apartment that the Kennedy heir bought for $700,000 in 1994, the same year he proposed. Photo: Getty

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Despite Bessette’s alleged concerns about what her future as a member of the political dynasty might hold, she still tied the knot with Kennedy, although she did everything she could to ensure that their marriage remained as private as possible.

To keep out unwanted guests and paparazzi, the couple held their wedding in a small church on Cumberland Island off the coast of Georgia, an unassuming location for such a high-profile couple, many of whom had assumed they would be married in New York or at the Kennedy family’s famed Hyannis Port complex.

Only 40 people attended the ceremony, which was held at the First African Baptist Church on September 21, 1996, four years after Kennedy and Bessette met. Among those guests were several members of the Kennedy family, including his sister, Caroline Kennedy, and her husband, Edwin Schlossberg, as well as their three children, all of whom played a role in the ceremony.

On Bessette’s side, her mother, Ann Messina Freeman, was present along with the publicist’s sister, Lisa Ann Bessette.

“Guests had to show a special Indian penny upon arrival on the island or they would be quickly escorted away,” participant Carol Radziwill recalled to the Daily Mail in 2019.

But by the time the couple returned from their wedding and honeymoon, news of their marriage had gotten out and they returned to their New York City apartment, located in the Tribeca neighborhood, to a swarm of paparazzi.

“This is a big change for everyone,” Kennedy reportedly told the waiting press. ‘Even more for a private individual. I’m just asking [for] any privacy or room you can give her while she makes that adjustment. It would be greatly appreciated.”

However, that did little to deter the frenzied excitement that continued to haunt the couple – attention that reportedly made Bessette more reluctant than ever to even leave their shared home, which Kennedy bought in 1994 for just $983,000 AUD (US$700,000).

The couple was frequently photographed walking through the neighborhood where the building was located. Gerber/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

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In contrast to their very glamorous public persona, the house – and the life they lived in it – was reportedly very understated, with only two bedrooms and a very industrial aesthetic, which is said to have inspired Kennedy’s nickname for the residence: “Home Depot.”

While the couple lived in the top floor apartment for their entire marriage, reports emerged after their deaths on July 16, 1999 that they had been eyeing an exit from the city – with the New York Post claiming that Kennedy and Bessette had already secured a property in Connecticut, not far from where the latter had grown up.

According to the outlet, the house in question, located in New Canaan, had been under construction for several months before Bessette and Kennedy died, and was designed to provide the duo with their own personal Camelot, away from the prying eyes of the city.

“The spread has a lot of rooms, a lot of land, a tennis court, a swimming pool. And it’s in New Canaan, the small town where Carolyn Bessette Kennedy spent part of her childhood and where her sister Lisa Ann lives,” the report said.

“Real estate agents estimate the value at up to $3 million.”

While it is unclear whether the home designed for the couple was ever completed, images show that there is now an extensive and very elegant home at that address, which last changed hands in 2007 for $12.6 million.

The couple’s New York City home quietly changed hands in 2000, when it was purchased by actor Ed Burns, who records show still owns the home to this day.

By Charlie Lankston

This article was originally published on broker.com