Writers' Houses
Or, my recent visit to Emily Dickinson's house in Amherst, Mass
I have a thing for writers’ desks. I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to desks. Some desks are messy. Others are meticulous shrines to Apple.
My own desk has moved over the years. Sometimes I’ve been mobile, preferring the quiet of a main reading room table at the Library of Congress. Other times, I’ve worked at my kitchen table. During the pandemic, my kids took over my guest bedroom/home office for their virtual schooling. My current desk is in my bedroom, a carefully curated backdrop arranged behind me for video calls. I love waking up in the middle of the night and stumbling over to my desk in the dark to catch an idea.
I suppose I’m intrigued by desks because I know the immense amount of work that happens at them. Writers spend a significant portion of our waking hours sitting. An academic friend of mine once complained the worst thing about his job was the inertia of desk time. Now folks have standing desks. We set timers to make sure we meet our “stand goal” on our fitness watches. We carefully choose chairs that minimize back pain. We sit on ergonomic cushions.
The next step from obsessing over writers’ desks is wondering where they sleep. When I travel, I love to visits writers’ homes. I recently took my teenager to see Emily Dickinson’s house in Amherst, MA. Amherst is a lovely little town, and the community (as well as Amherst College) has done a great job preserving Dickinson’s house (and the Evergreens, her brother’s house next door). We spent nearly two hours there and both loved it!!
Now is a good time to visit writers’ houses because a number of them close during the winter and re-open in spring. If you’re traveling somewhere in the United States, consider a literary tour!
I’ve compiled a little list of writers’ houses. I’m limiting this list to fiction writers and poets, for the sake of brevity. I know I’ve overlooked many, so please comment with additions below!
The Langston Hughes House in Harlem, NY. This brownstone where Hughes lived for the last 20 years of his life, is now home to a nonprofit that preserves his legacy. They are not open to tours, but they do host events open to the public.
The Anne Spencer House in Lynchburg, VA. This elegant Virginia home of Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer has been lovingly preserved with nearly 95% original furnishings. It is a beautiful testament to the rich cultural life of this early twentieth century African American artist.
The Paul Laurence Dunbar House in Dayton, OH. This prolific writer and towering figure of early twentieth century America spent most of his life in Ohio though he only lived in this house for the last two years of his life.
The Hemingway House in Key West, FL. If you are in Key West, this house where Hemingway spent over a decade with his second wife is a must-see. Make sure you like cats. When I took my kids, all they wanted to do was chase the cats.
Robert Frost Stone House in Shaftesbury, VT. One thing about writers is that we are fascinating human beings. A visit to Frost’s house will reveal no different. He also had a winter cottage in Key West, FL.
Zora Neale Hurston’s house in Fort Pierce, FL. You can’t tour this house (it’s privately owned by the Benton family), but no list would be complete without a suggested pilgrimage to Hurston’s grave in Fort Pierce and the town where she lived out her final days. Like Dunbar above, she only lived in this house for the final few years of her life. She was allowed to live there rent-free by a prominent local doctor Dr. Clem C. Benton. I’m so grateful that he looked out for our national treasure. After she became sick, she moved to the St. Lucie Welfare Home. Visitors to the town can also visit that site which has been devoted to her memory.
William Faulkner’s Rowan Oak in Oxford, MS. I’m originally from Memphis and I spent many days listening to literary-minded schoolmates extol the virtues of Faulkner’s fiction. Now I understand him more as a deeply complicated man. But I’ve known several writers friends who have spent residencies near his old mansion, as part of the Grisham Writer-in-Residence program. The Mississippi writer John Grisham also helped fund the renovation of Rowan Oak.
Edith Wharton’s house in Lenox, MA. If you’ve read an Edith Wharton novel, you know that her work is an example of what some call a “novel of manners.” These novels featured the customs of a stratified society. So it should come as no surprise that Wharton was wealthy. Very wealthy. “The Mount” is one of only five percent of National Historic Landmarks dedicated to women.
Toni Morrison’s childhood home in Lorain, OH isn’t open for tours, but one day I would love to visit the birthplace of the Queen. Morrison’s stunning Manhattan apartment came on the market not long after her death, and the entire literary Internet cherished these photos.
The home of Mississippi writer Eudora Welty in Jackson, MS. Welty lived in this house for 76 years! It’s also one of those landmarks that is considered very historically accurate and intact. It has lovely gardens.
Of course, DC is home to many, many writers’ homes. Some years ago, two writers Dan Vera and Kim Roberts set out to map all of the homes. They came up with over 200. For some reason, I can’t get the link to their site to work. But here’s an article about it. Most of them were former homes that are now privately owned.
What’s your favorite writers’ home? Share below in the comments!
Love this.