Thomas Wolfe House

Thomas Wolfe House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Location	52 N Market St. Asheville, North Carolina
Coordinates
Built	1883
Architect	Unknown
Architectural style	Queen Anne
NRHP Reference #	71000572
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	November 11, 1971
Designated NHL	November 11, 1971

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File:Rocking chairs on front porch, Thomas Wolfe House IMG 5173.JPG

Front porch of Wolfe's "Old Kentucky Home"

The Thomas Wolfe House, also known as the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, is a 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 two-story frame house was built in 1883, influenced by the Queen Anne Style of architecture. 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 Thomas Wolfe House was designated a National Historic Landmark on November 11, 1971. It is located in the Downtown Asheville Historic District.

External links

• 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"