Julia Child bought a Cambridge home in the 1960s and donated it to a college in 2001; the house where she once filmed cooking shows has now sold for $6.525 million, while her old kitchen sits in a museum

Julia Child’s former home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has found a new owner, selling for $6.525 million just weeks after hitting the market. The historic property, where the celebrated chef spent four decades and filmed several of her television cooking shows, has changed considerably since her time there. While the house has undergone a major renovation, the kitchen that became familiar to millions of viewers has been preserved at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Details of the sale were reported by Mansion Global, while property records and the Smithsonian provide further information about the house and its culinary history. The property, located at 103 Irving Street, was built in 1889 and covers approximately 6,321 square feet. It has six bedrooms spread across three floors and sits on a quarter-acre plot. Although its interiors have been updated over the years, the Victorian-style exterior retains much of its original character. The house also features hardwood floors, French doors and a contemporary kitchen, a considerable departure from the space that once became a familiar sight on American television.Child and her husband, Paul, moved into the Cambridge property in 1961 after spending several years living in Europe. The kitchen was designed around her needs, with Paul helping create a practical space where everything was within easy reach. The couple installed unusually high maple countertops to accommodate Julia’s height and used pegboards to hang pots, pans and cooking utensils. Paul even outlined the shape of each item on the boards, making it easier to return everything to its place after use.The kitchen eventually became more than just a place where the chef prepared meals. It served as the setting for several of her television programmes, particularly those she filmed in the 1990s. These included In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs, Baking with Julia and Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home. Her earlier television success, The French Chef, had helped introduce generations of American viewers to French cooking through Boston’s WGBH television station.When Child decided to leave Cambridge and return to California in 2001, she donated the house and her office to Smith College, where she had studied. The college subsequently sold the property. She also donated her kitchen and its contents to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, ensuring that the space where she had spent so much of her life would remain accessible to the public.Today, visitors to the Smithsonian can see the kitchen reconstructed with its original cabinets, maple countertops, appliances, utensils and signature pegboards. The museum documented the room before dismantling it, allowing the team to recreate its arrangement as closely as possible. The collection includes around 1,200 objects from Child’s home, preserving not just the equipment she used but also the everyday details that made the kitchen distinctly hers.The property’s latest sale has also brought renewed attention to its place in Cambridge’s history. In August 2026, the Cambridge City Council voted in favour of installing a commemorative plaque at the house to recognise Child’s connection to the neighbourhood. However, the wording still needs to be finalised, and the new owner’s approval will be required before it can be installed.Child’s former home now belongs to a new owner, but its association with the chef remains an important part of its story. While the kitchen where she once cooked for television audiences has found a permanent home in a museum, the Cambridge property continues to carry the history of the woman who helped make cooking more approachable for millions of people.