BOSTON – Beacon Hill is known as a home for stately brick row houses and powerful people. The hovering news helicopters, barricaded roads and Secret Service details were a recent addition, thanks to resident John Kerry’s bid for the presidency.

With Kerry’s campaign over, views about whether the neighborhood will be better off without all the bustle are as divergent as those of the voters who cast ballots in the tight election.

“The closed roads and helicopters – they’re around all day when he’s here. I think it’s an intrusion,” said Paula Boyd, 64, who lives a block away from Kerry’s Louisburg Square mansion. “I’m glad he lost because I want them to go away.”

But for the Rev. Ben King, 29, a resident and pastor at the Church of the Advent, Kerry’s defeat by President Bush didn’t bring a sense of relief – only disappointment that the man Massachusetts voters had sent to the Senate four times didn’t end up giving the state its first hometown son as president since President Kennedy in 1960.

As Kerry remained secluded in his 12-room home crafting a concession speech he delivered Wednesday afternoon at nearby Faneuil Hall, neighbors, tourists and the plain curious stationed themselves outside pondering Kerry’s remarkable run.

“I think everybody wishes it would continue,” King said. “I think the fact of his being president would have outweighed any inconvenience.”

Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, bought their Louisburg Square home in 1996 for $1.7 million. The home – with its six fireplaces, rooftop deck and elevator – is now assessed at $7 million; it’s tucked in the corner of an elegant block of townhouses that surround a leafy, gated park.

The park was based on the London-style garden square whose design was imported by Boston architect Charles Bulfinch, according to “The Garden Squares of Boston” author Phebe S. Goodman. Only Louisburg Square homeowners have keys to unlock the gate.

Kerry, 61, lived there in relative quiet until he became the front-runner for the Democratic nomination and began receiving Secret Service protection in February. Since then, Kerry, who has several homes he owns with his wife around the country, has visited his Beacon Hill residence about six or seven times, neighbors said.

Each time, the road to the square was barricaded with metal gates that could only be crossed with proper identification and proof of residence. The streets around the tightly packed neighborhood shut down and Kerry’s motorcade added to the congestion.

Over the past year, visitors would occasionally stop locals in the street, in the shadow of the Massachusetts Statehouse, asking for directions to Louisburg Square to spy Kerry’s digs. More than likely, they mispronounced it with a silent ‘s,’ but real locals know it’s LEWIS-burg.

The commotion was no big deal for 35-year-old Diana Coldren. She said the Secret Service agents were always friendly when she passed on walks with her two young children. Another four years of Kerry’s occasional visits wouldn’t have bothered her at all, she said.

“I haven’t really noticed any obstacles when he’s here,” Coldren said. “I was for him. I’m upset (he lost), personally.”

Curt Dietrich, 75, has a different story. He has a parking space in Louisburg Square that ended up being a hassle. Parking or getting to his car took an extra 10 minutes every time as he went through security or identification checks, he said.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” he said. “You know, the worst thing about it, (Kerry) has never once said, ‘Gee, we’re sorry for the inconvenience.’ He’s been completely oblivious to the whole thing.”

Dietrich said the Secret Service would have had difficulty protecting such a densely packed area if Kerry has become president. Meanwhile, residents would have had to live with the threat of a terror attack whenever he visited, just as they did during the campaign, he said.

“He endangered us all,” he said.

Patricia Thoma, 67, a 30-year resident of Beacon Hill, had no such fears, and said she was pulling for a Kerry win. But now that he’s lost, the neighborhood will eventually return to normal and Kerry will be able to blend in on its streets and sidewalks, if that’s what he wants, she said.

“There are people all over the place who are significant,” Thoma said. “It’s a lovely place to live. People don’t turn their heads. It’s not that kind of place.”