Boarding House Where Lee Harvey Oswald Hung His Hat To Hit The Market in June

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Photo: Vernon Bryant/Dallas Morning News

Lee Harvey Oswald lived in the unassuming brown brick house at 1026 N. Beckley Avenue right up until he was apprehended for allegedly shooting the president. It was the last place he is known to have lived.

And now it can be yours.

It’ll cost you, of course. The owner of the home, Pat Hall, wants to sell the house next month, but don’t expect her to list it for the market. According to the write up from Oak Cliff reporter Roy Appleton, Hall has a figure in mind.

“It’s not going to be too low,” she said during a recent tour of the house. “I’m selling history here.”

I am very interested to see how much this home goes for, especially considering its history and place in our national memory. This is the place that Oswald fled to before holing up in the Texas Theatre. It’s the place that he rented under an assumed name, where he kept quiet and out of the way. It’s the last place he lived before he became infamous.

Hall’s late mother, Fay Puckett, lived as well with the Oswald yoke, a past that continues to attract tour buses, history hounds and the unexpected — as in the Lee Harvey Oswald look-alike actor from Austin who showed up at the front door one day.

“It was kind of weird having that guy standing there,” Hall said. “It took me back.”

After her mother died, Hall, 61, opened the place to tours for several years, encouraging — with some success — donations toward its upkeep.

But she and her house aren’t getting younger. The structure needs repairs here and there. The public demands of history, she said, have been a burden, something she doesn’t want for her children.

So basically, if you buy this house, you can consider it an investment. Put a gift shop in there and add some parking and voila — tourist attraction. You’re close to Zang and Colorado, and Lake Cliff Park, too. There are some great restaurants nearby as well.

DCAD appraised this home at $60,830. Put in your over/under below.

Joanna England is the Executive Editor at CandysDirt.com and covers the North Texas housing market.

5 Comments

  1. […] When the Oak Cliff Gateway rezoning case went through, Whatley’s building, which is next door to the boarding house where Lee Harvey Oswald spent his last days as a free man, ended up directly bordering the rezoned area. In fact, that edge went right up to her property […]

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