Surreal estate: Ethel Kennedy's Hickory Hill sells for $8.25 million

Crowds line up outside Hickory Hill to attend Ethel Kennedy's fundraising party for Sen. Edward Kennedy on Sept. 29, 1970. (Steve Szabo/The Washington Post)

Seller: Ethel Kennedy
Price: $8.25 million
Details: After seven years on the market, Hickory Hill, the McLean home of Robert Kennedy, has finally found a buyer. Originally listed for $25 million, the 5.6-acre property -- a 7,332-square-foot Georgian manor built in 1869, with 13 bedrooms and 11 baths, tennis court and pool -- proved a tough sell, especially given its designation as a National Historic Landmark (developers couldn't subdivide the land and throw up McMansions). The price was dropped to $20 million, then $16.5 and finally to $12.5 two years ago. The buyer, who was not disclosed, now joins the list of distinguished owners including Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, John F. Kennedy and RFK, who bought it from his brother for $125,000 in 1957.