Jack Kerouac Signed Deed to his Residence in Lowell Massachusetts. With Superb Estate Provenance
Lowell, Massachusetts, December 3, 1966
EX: THE ESTATE OF JACK KEROUAC..
The original one-page deed to Kerouac’s then newly acquired house in Lowell. SIGNED by Jack Kerouac lower right using his full legal name “John L. Kerouac”. A one-of-a-kind rare and desirable important piece of Kerouac history. Kerouac was a recluse; his signature is extremely rare and his full legal signature on the ownership deed to his home is beyond rare. Would make a superb gift for a collector of Jack Kerouac or a collector of extraordinary historical pieces.
The house and land deed was additionally signed by his third wife Stella Sampas Kerouac as “Stella S. Kerouac”, and co-signed by the sellers and realtor at bottom. Signed in Lowell, Massachusetts on December 3, 1966, this historic document was acquired directly from the Kerouac estate via auction and will be accompanied by estate certification signed and notarized by John Shen-Sampas, executor of the Kerouac Estate. John Shen-Sampas is the son of John Sampas, who was the brother-in-law of Jack Kerouac, and the brother of Stella Kerouac, Jack’s wife.
The house deed was signed in Lowell, Massachusetts on December 3, 1966 for the purchase of both the land and buildings located at “No. 271 Sanders Avenue in Lowell”. The parcel with the home is described in the deed as “Containing 11,925 square feet, and being lot 38 on Plan Book 95, Plan142, Recorded with Middlesex North District Registry of Deeds Book 1576, Page 41, and dated October 8, 1962. Price is Thirty One thousand and no/100…..$31,000.00..”. The document is partly printed and partly typed, and docketed to the verso. Expected paper folds and a few rusted paper clip impressions, else near fine. 8.5″ x 14″.
The legal document transferred ownership of the house at 271 Sanders Avenue in Lowell, Massachusetts from a New Hampshire couple to Jack & Stella Kerouac. The single-family split-level ranch house had been built in 1962, and featured 3 bedrooms. The Kerouacs lived at 271 Sanders Avenue between January 1967 and the summer of 1968. They had fled back to Lowell, Kerouac’s hometown, after multiple public drunkenness arrests in Hyannis, Massachusetts made him persona non grata there. Kerouac’s neighbors on Sanders Avenue recall his wandering around in pajamas and slippers, sleeping all day, and partying all night. When the Kerouacs left in 1968, they were headed for St. Petersburg, Florida, where Kerouac would die shortly after in October 1969.
Provenance: EX: THE ESTATE OF JACK KEROUAC. The piece will be accompanied by an estate certification signed by John Shen-Sampas, executor of the Kerouac Estate. John Shen-Sampas is the son of John Sampas, who was the brother-in-law of Jack Kerouac, and the brother of Stella Kerouac, Jack’s wife.
A one-of-a-kind rare and desirable important piece of Kerouac history. Kerouac was a recluse; his signature is extremely rare and his full legal signature on the ownership deed to his home is beyond rare. Would make a superb gift for a collector of Jack Kerouac.
