Even 26 years after their tragic passing, we all still want in on the private world of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. The enduring public fascination with the couple has sparked the production of an anthology series about their relationship—and, consequently, intense scrutiny over whether its first looks adhere to the style of its subjects. Will the upcoming Ryan Murphy series, American Love Story, give us an accurate glimpse of the settings where CBK and JFK Jr. spent their time?
Carolyn Bessette’s name has become synonymous with her classic taste––a personal brand that Lee Radziwill famously encouraged Carolyn cling to when the Kennedy spotlight fell on her. Her clothing, of course, comes to mind first: Bessette was a living masterclass in chic-minimalism, favoring staples in black, white, and brown, clean lines and sharp tailoring, slip skirts and crisp button downs, sumptuous coats, and fine leather footwear (I’ll stop myself here). The Calvin Klein publicist also had a habit of finding herself photographed in impossibly chic New York City settings, but peeks into her private spaces were few and far between.
A 1996 New York Times article profiling Bessette shortly after her wedding says that she grew up in “a large house on Lake Avenue in Greenwich, Connecticut.” She graduated from Boston University in 1988, and moved to New York’s East Village the following year. “I used to step over drunks and crack dealers to get into my apartment. Everybody at Calvin Klein thought I was crazy, but I couldn’t imagine coming to New York and living anywhere else,” she said in a 1999 Women’s Wear Daily interview sourced by Sunita Kumar Nair. Friends also recall her living in a West Village brownstone, where she was briefly Kate Moss’s downstairs neighbor, before moving into Kennedy’s sweeping Tribeca loft at 20 North Moore St. in 1995 (Kennedy bought the space for $700,000 in 1994, according to New York Post). They married the following year, and called the loft home until the plane crash that killed them in July 1999.
Most of the details available on the couple’s home life are cobbled together from oral histories, biographies, and secondary sources. Carolyn was known to be private and press-shy, especially in reaction to the constant media storm that centered her, according to PEOPLE. These circumstances create a unique challenge for American Love Story, and fans are anxious to see how the series will interpret both the apartment’s set dressing, and Carolyn’s relationship to it.
The technical details informing the set include the loft’s open concept layout, high ceilings, and industrial ambiance (Kennedy allegedly nicknamed it “The Home Depot”), as reported by House Beautiful. But from a decor perspective, how will the set dressing reflect the iconic style of its inhabitants, when we know so little about their intimate life in the space? Will Murphy’s team attempt to translate Carolyn’s crisp, minimalistic fashion into design details, or take queues from the more rustic, unassuming wedding venue she selected on Cumberland Island? Will we see the North Moore St. loft painted as a comfortable refuge from the public, or a tense environment that is too constantly surrounded by press to truly feel like a home?
Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr. returning to their Tribeca apartment building.
As I flip through my copy of CBK: A Life In Fashion—the comprehensive coffee table book you’ve surely seen on several gift guides this year—I can’t find a single photo of Bessette at home. The shots most often referenced find her on the move: roaming the streets of New York, D.C., and London; attending galas and walking the dog; dressed down on a Martha’s Vineyard dock, or looking up from her signature oval shades on a weekend coffee run with John. We see her sleekly stepping out of the industrial door to the Tribeca apartment building, and returning to it, gracefully undone after a long night in heels. But we, the viewer, are never invited in.
Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Kelly on set for American Love Story.
So far, Ryan Murphy’s production team has been spotted shooting outdoors with stars Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Kelly in the Upper East Side, Midtown, Tribeca, and outside of the Supreme Courthouse in Downtown, Manhattan, according to WWD. We can only assume that they will utilize the exterior of 20 North Moore, at the very least. But until we have our first interior set photos to analyze, we’re left with our imaginations—and the sense of mystery that Bessette-Kennedy successfully maintained around her private world.
Grace McCarty is a freelance Associate Digital Editor at ELLE Decor, where she covers design trends, shopping, and culture. She previously held a staff position at SELF Magazine, where she focused on beauty, style, and wellness. Her work has also appeared in Glamour and Parade.