If walls talked

It was in 2003 that the Kennedy Family first announced the late Bobby Kennedy's widow Ethel Kennedy, who turns 80 next year, was selling the family's fabled estate Hickory Hills for $25 million.

The enormous 13-bedroom and 13-bathroom mansion, the focal point of the property's six acres in trendy McLean, Va., was where the couple raised their 11 children.

Now, New York gossip columnist Cindy Adams, widow of comic Joey Adams, is reporting Ethel has chopped the asking price in half to $12 million. These days, Ethel lives at the Kennedy Family Compound in Hyannis Port, Mass.

Ethel first met her future husband while she was in college and a friend and roommate of Bobby's sister Jean Kennedy.

Ethel and Bobby married on June 17, 1950 and by 1956 Ethel was expecting their fifth child, so they purchased Hickory Hill from John and Jackie Kennedy who were moving to Washington D.C..

I chatted with Cindy Adams way back in 1995 after she wrote the hardcover biography of Kennedy Family matriarch Rose Kennedy (who died in 1995 just a few months short of her 105th birthday).

I'll never forget her book "Iron Rose" (1995 NewStar Press $24.95), especially since all the pages were rose-scented!

But I remember most is Adams saying that Hickory Hill estate after Bobby and Ethel Kennedy moved in was far different than the stately days when the future president and first lady had lived there.

Gone were the days of elegant dinner parties and afternoon teas, replaced by "rowdy" pool parties and infamous barbecues and a frequent guest list of gliterati that included John Lennon, Judy Garland and dancer Rudolf Nureyev.

Of course, adding 11 children to any household is sure to create chaos.

When I interviewed Bobby Kennedy Jr. in 1996, when the famed environmental attorney and activist spoke as part of the annual celeb lecture series at Sinai Temple in Michigan City, I asked him about the reported "virtual" zoo of pets he kept as a kid at Hickory Hills.

He said it was part of his early love of animals and the environment and most of the smaller pets like reptiles and hamsters were kept in the basement. And outside, he said at any given time, you might find everything from ponies and rabbits to anything as exotic as a seal or baby elephant roaming around the grounds!

One of the funniest things I ever heard from Adams was the fact that the refined and regal Jackie Kennedy thought Bobby and Ethel's brood were "too wild" and she wasn't very fond of the idea of Caroline and John Jr. spending too much time with their cousins.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at ppotempa@nwi.com or 219.852.4327.

celebBirthdays

Racing legend Al Unser Sr. is 68. Actor Kevin Conway ("Gods and Generals") is 65. Singer Gary Brooker of Procol Harum is 62. Actor Anthony Geary is 60. Singer Rebbie Jackson ("Centipede")is 57. Composer Danny Elfman is 54. Gunman John Hinckley (tried to assassinate President Reagan) and bassist Michael Porcaro of Toto are 52. Singer LaToya Jackson is 51. Actor Ted Levine ("Monk," "The Silence of the Lambs") is 50. Actress Annette Bening is 49. Actor Rupert Everett is 48. Singer Melissa Etheridge is 46. Actress Lisa Whelchel ("The Facts of Life") is 44. Singer Jayski McGowan of Quad City DJ's is 40. Guitarist Noel Gallagher of Oasis is 40. Guitarist Chan Kinchla of Blues Traveler is 38. Guitarist Mark Lee of Third Day is 34. Cartoonist Aaron McGruder ("Boondocks") is 33. Singer Melanie Brown ("Scary Spice") of the Spice Girls and rapper Playa

Poncho are 32. Danielle Riley Keough (granddaughter of Elvis Presley) is 18.