Joseph and Rose Kennedy acquired their first home in 1914 on a quiet sycamore-lined side street in Brookline. Constructed and presumably designed by a local architect-builder, Robert M. Goode, the two-and-a-half-story three-bay cross-gable shingled house with projecting porch was located near a streetcar line on Harvard Street. This small frame suburban dwelling of two stories is characteristic of a middle-class starter home for a young businessman who worked in Boston. Four of the Kennedy children, including John, were born here before the family purchased a larger home at 51 Abbottsford Road (NRD) in 1921. The National Park Service administers the John F. Kennedy Birthplace, which is open to the public.