Rowan Oak facts for kids
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William Faulkner House
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Rowan Oak
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 Location in Mississippi
Location in the United States
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| Location | Old Taylor Road, Oxford, Mississippi |
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| Built | 1844 |
| Architect | Col. Robert Sheegog |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 68000028 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | May 23, 1968 |
| Designated NHL | May 23, 1968 |
Rowan Oak was the special home of a famous writer named William Faulkner. It's located in Oxford, Mississippi. This old house was built in the 1840s and looks like a Greek Revival style home. Faulkner bought the house in 1930 when it needed a lot of work, and he even helped fix it up himself!
One cool thing about the house is the outline of Faulkner's book, A Fable, drawn with pencil on the walls of his office. Today, the University of Mississippi owns and takes care of Rowan Oak. It's now a museum that you can visit all year round.
History of Rowan Oak
The house sits on four acres of land with gardens. It's surrounded by 29 acres of woods called Bailey Woods.
Early Owners
The first owners, the Sheegog family, lived in the home from 1844 to 1872. The house was first designed in an L-shape. It had a large center hall connecting a living room and dining room on one side, and a library on the other. Stairs led up to three bedrooms on the second floor.
In 1872, the Bailey family bought the home and lived there until 1923. Around the early 1900s, Julia Bailey added an indoor kitchen and a pantry. She also closed off a hallway in the servants' area and added a front porch and a bathroom.
Faulkner's Home
The house was empty for seven years before William Faulkner bought it in 1930. He named the property "Rowan Oak." He chose this name after the rowan tree, which means peace, and the live oak, which means strength. Even though these trees aren't on the property, the land has many native Mississippi plants.
The rows of cedar trees along the driveway were common in the 1800s. People believed cedar trees helped clean the air from the yellow fever virus. Rowan Oak was William Faulkner's private world. He loved its history. While living there, Faulkner kept horses for riding and fox hunting. He also often went to sports events at nearby Ole Miss.
In the 1930s, Faulkner added brick patios and a porch off the dining room. He also added a covered entrance for cars and a fourth bedroom. In the 1950s, he made more updates. He enclosed the back porch on the first floor to use as his study or office.
Faulkner wrote many stories and books during his time at Rowan Oak. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949. He also won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for his book A Fable in 1954.
Preserving Rowan Oak
In 1972, the University of Mississippi bought Rowan Oak. The home is kept just as it was when Faulkner passed away in 1962. The university takes care of the house to share Faulkner's amazing writing with everyone. It's open for visitors all year.
Many famous writers have visited Rowan Oak. These include John Updike, Alice Walker, and Salman Rushdie.
Rowan Oak was named a National Historic Landmark in 1968. This means it's a very important historical place in the United States.
The person who currently takes care of Rowan Oak is William Griffith. An earlier curator, Bev Smith, found many of Faulkner's original writings hidden in a closet under the stairs!
