National Historic Landmark

Wolfe, Thomas, House

Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina
Listed
November 11, 1971
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
71000572

About this property

The Thomas Wolfe House, also known as the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, is a state historic site, historic house and museum located at 52 North Market Street in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. The American author Thomas Wolfe (1900–1938) lived in the home during his boyhood. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971 for its association with Wolfe. It is located in the Downtown Asheville Historic District. The two-story frame house was built in 1883, influenced by Queen Anne style architecture in the United States. By 1906, when Wolfe's mother, Julia E. (Westall) Wolfe (1860–1945), bought the house, it was a boarding house named "Old Kentucky Home". She soon went to live at her business with Tom, while the other Wolfes remained at their Woodfin Street residence. Wolfe lived at the boarding house until he went to the University of North Carolina in 1916. Julia Wolfe enlarged the house in 1917 by adding five rooms. Wolfe used the house as the setting for his first novel, Look Homeward, Angel (1929). Changing the name of his mother's boarding house to "Dixieland" in his autobiographical fiction, he incorporated his own experiences among family, friends and boarders into the book. The house became a memorial to Wolfe after his mother's death (he having died relatively young of tuberculosis). It has been open to visitors since the 1950s, owned by the state of North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources since 1976 and designated as a National Historic Landmark. In 1998, 200 of the house's 800 original artifacts and the house's dining room were destroyed by a fire set by an arsonist during the Bele Chere street festival. The perpetrator remains unknown. After a $2.4 million restoration, the house reopened in 2003. List of National Historic Landmarks in North Carolina National Register of Historic Places listings in Buncombe County, North Carolina Media related to Thomas Wolfe House at Wikimedia Commons Thomas Wolfe Memorial – Asheville, North Carolina, Historic Site Asheville, North Carolina, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary State of North Carolina history of the "Old Kentucky Home"

Location

48 Spruce St.
Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina
35.59761, -82.54513

Categories

LITERATURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

E. D. Latta Nurses' Residence
Industrial
0.2 mi
First Baptist Church
Industrial
0.2 mi
Buncombe County Courthouse
Industrial
0.2 mi
Asheville City Hall
Industrial
0.2 mi
Zealandia
Industrial
0.3 mi

Nearby Battles

Stoneman's Raid — Asheville NC Approaches
1865Civil War
0.4 mi
Stoneman's Raid — Swannanoa Gap Defense
1865Civil War
8.3 mi
Stoneman's Raid — Black Mountain NC
1865Civil War
12.5 mi

Questions about this property

When was Wolfe, Thomas, House listed on the National Register?

Wolfe, Thomas, House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 11, 1971.

What type of historic resource is Wolfe, Thomas, House?

Wolfe, Thomas, House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Wolfe, Thomas, House a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Wolfe, Thomas, House has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Wolfe, Thomas, House?

The period of significance for Wolfe, Thomas, House is recorded as the industrial era.

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