Pearl S. Buck Birthplace facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Pearl Buck House
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The Pearl S. Buck Birthplace
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 Location in West Virginia
Location in the United States
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| Location | 8129 Seneca Trail, Hillsboro, West Virginia |
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| Area | 16.4 acres (6.6 ha) |
| Built | 1892 |
| NRHP reference No. | 70000663 |
| Added to NRHP | June 15, 1970 |
The Pearl S. Buck Birthplace is a special historic home in Hillsboro, West Virginia. It's where the famous American writer Pearl S. Buck was born. Today, the house is a museum that offers guided tours. You can also see a carpentry shop and a barn filled with old farm tools. Plus, there's a log home that belonged to Pearl Buck's father's family, the Sydenstrickers, which was moved here from Greenbrier County.
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The Story of the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace
This three-story house was built around 1875. It was made by hand by a Dutch family who came to America. They were escaping religious problems in the Netherlands. Pearl S. Buck was born in this house in 1892. Her parents, Caroline Stulting and Absalom Sydenstricker, were visiting from China. They were missionaries for the Presbyterian church. They went back to China just three months after Pearl was born.
Pearl S. Buck became a very famous writer. She was the first American woman to win two big awards: the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for her book The Good Earth, and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. She wrote over 100 books and many short stories. Her books have been translated into 69 different languages!
Keeping the House Special Today
Pearl S. Buck herself cared a lot about saving and fixing up her birthplace. She wrote about her dream for the museum in her book My Mother's House. She hoped the house would be a place for everyone, not just her family. She wanted it to be a "gateway to new thoughts and dreams."
You can take a guided tour of the house from May 1 to November 1. Tours are available on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. You can also arrange a visit by appointment. The site also has different events throughout the year.
Pearl Buck's Writings
Pearl Buck gave her important collection of writings to the Birthplace Foundation in 1970. These papers are currently kept at West Virginia Wesleyan College. This is a special agreement made with Senator John D. Rockefeller IV. The writings will stay there until a proper place is built for them at the Birthplace. Researchers can study them with permission from the foundation.
The Stulting Family Home
Pearl Buck's mother's family, the Stultings, moved from Utrecht, the Netherlands, in 1847. About 300 of their friends and family came with them. They wanted to practice their religion freely because it was not allowed in the Netherlands at that time. They had to leave their home country for a new land. The group included Cornelius Stulting, his wife Arnolda, and their five married sons and their families.
When they arrived in New York, the families went their separate ways. The Stultings moved to West Virginia, which was part of Virginia back then. They bought land and settled in an area called "Little Levels." The Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Foundation now owns 13 and a half acres of this land.
Pearl S. Buck's great-grandfather, Cornelius "Mynheer" Stulting, really wanted to build a house like the one they had in the Netherlands. His wife, Arnolda, missed their old home, and he hoped a new house would help her feel better about living in America.
The Stulting men worked very hard. They used materials from the land to build the house. They worked for more than two years. The house was almost finished when Cornelius "Mynheer" got sick and passed away. He never saw the house completed. His son, Hermanus, and grandson, Cornelius John, finished the house. They used the building skills they learned from their family. The family then moved into the "goodly, twelve room house of wood."
Pearl Buck's mother, Caroline, grew up in this house. She married Absalom Sydenstricker. Soon after they got married, they left for China to become missionaries. They were pioneers and lived in many different towns in China. Sometimes, they were the only white family in their town.
The Sydenstrickers often visited this home when they came back to America, usually every nine years. It was during one of these visits that Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker was born in her grandfather's home on June 26, 1892.
Pearl spent her childhood in China. But her mother told her many stories about this American home. These stories made Pearl love the house very much.
The Stulting family enjoyed music, practiced their crafts, became teachers, and raised their children in the house until 1922. Then, Mr. George P. Edgar bought the house. He used it as a winter home until the early 1960s.
Later, Mr. Jim Comstock bought the house to save it because it was so important to history. He raised money from newspaper readers. Then, he asked the West Virginia Federation of Women's Clubs to take over. Women's clubs across the state donated money to buy and restore the house.
The Stulting Barn
The Stulting family had no farming experience before coming to America. But they managed to make a living on this small farm. The barn had grown with many additions over the years. So, it was restored to look like it did in 1892. This was done with help from the U.S. Department of the Interior and finished in 1977. The barn is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Today, this barn is filled with old farm tools and equipment. It has a hayloft, stalls, and storage areas. It looks just like a barn from 1892, only without the farm animals!
The Sydenstricker Family Home
This house was given to the Birthplace Foundation by two sisters, Mrs. Lucille Spencer and Mrs. Leona Bonin. It was moved from its original location and rebuilt in Hillsboro.
The Sydenstricker house was the birthplace of Pearl's father, Dr. Absalom Sydenstricker. He was a Presbyterian missionary in China for his whole adult life. The original log part of the house is now a museum. It shows items from the Sydenstricker family and what life was like from 1834 to 1880. The house was built in 1834 by Andrew Sydenstricker. He and his wife, Frances Coffman, had nine children, including Absalom. Five of Andrew's sons became ministers.
The Sydenstricker family was very well-known in Greenbrier County. Philip Sydenstricker, Pearl S. Buck's great-great-grandfather, came to America from Germany in 1764. He settled on a farm near Ronceverte, West Virginia, after the Revolutionary War.
The original two-story part of the house was made of logs. Later, it was covered with siding to match new additions. During the reconstruction, the siding was removed to show the logs again.
The reconstruction started with a grant of $15,000. This money helped the foundation take the house apart, move the materials to Hillsboro, and build the foundation. Another $12,000 was donated for the project. A grant of $25,000 helped finish the house in 1982. The Pearl Buck Birthplace Foundation is still looking for donated items for this house, especially things that belonged to the Sydenstricker family.
Pearl S. Buck Memorial Garden
The land around the Birthplace is being turned into a special garden to honor Pearl S. Buck. This project was started by local garden clubs. They restored a fruit orchard with old-fashioned trees. They also planted grapevines and flowers in the same places where the Stultings originally planted them.
A few trees on the property were planted by the Stultings long ago. One was a tall Chinese mulberry tree that stood in front of the house. Pearl Buck's missionary parents brought it as a tiny plant from China. You can still see other mulberry trees on the property today.
Pearl Buck wrote about a large maple tree in front of the house in her book The Exile. She remembered her mother riding her horse near it. Pearl Buck herself once looked at this same maple tree and said she would like to be buried underneath it.
Gallery
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View of home
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Heritage Fair
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Heritage Fair
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Heritage Fair
