Chuck Johnston
CNN
(CNN) — The Dallas house where Lee Harvey Oswald rented a room in November 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, will shortly be on the market.
The owner of the property in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas plans to put it up for sale on June 1. Oswald rented a room in the house at 1026 North Beckley Ave. from Arthur and Gladys Johnson for $8 per week.
It gave him access to a bedroom and a living room, and refrigerator privileges in the house. He began living at the property on October 14, 1963.
Earlene Roberts, the housekeeper of the property, told the Warren Commission that Oswald rented the room under the alias of O. H. Lee.
The Warren Commission report, which concluded that Oswald had acted alone in killing Kennedy, recounts the testimony of Earlene Roberts about Oswald’s last appearance in the rooming house on that day after the president had been shot.
“On Friday, November 22, about 1 p.m., (Oswald) entered the house in unusual haste. She recalled that it was subsequent to the time the president had been shot. After a friend had called and told her, President Kennedy has been shot, she turned on the television. When Oswald came in she said, “Oh, you are in a hurry.” But Oswald did not respond. He hurried to his room and stayed no longer than 3 or 4 minutes. Oswald had entered the house in his shirt sleeves, but when he left he was zipping up a jacket. Mrs. Roberts saw him a few seconds later standing near the bus stop in front of the house of the east side of Beckley. “
The house has remained in the Johnson family for over 50 years. Patricia Puckett Hall inherited the property from her grandmother, Gladys Johnson, and has decided to put the house up for sale.
Many of the furnishings in the Lee Harvey Oswald room have remained the same since 1963. The bed he slept in and a dresser table that were in the room remain.
Over the years, the house has attracted tourists and visitors who take pictures and ask questions about the historic home, Hall said. Since 2009, she has allowed people to come in and see the room.
Hall hopes to sell the property to someone who appreciates its significance.
“It would be lovely if it was a local person,” she said, “but if we can find someone internationally that is going to preserve the house for future generations, that is paramount.”
