Sinclair Lewis Boyhood Home facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Sinclair Lewis Boyhood Home
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The Sinclair Lewis Boyhood Home viewed from the south
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 Location in Minnesota
Location in the United States
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| Location | 812 Sinclair Lewis Avenue, Sauk Centre, Minnesota |
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| Area | Less than one acre |
| Built | 1889 |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 68000027 |
| Designated NHL | May 23, 1968 |
The Sinclair Lewis Boyhood Home is a special house in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. It's a historic house museum and a National Historic Landmark. From 1889 to 1902, this was the home of Sinclair Lewis. He grew up to be a very famous American writer. Lewis was the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. His famous book, Main Street, was inspired by his life in Sauk Centre.
Today, the Sinclair Lewis Foundation takes care of the house. They have made it look like it did when Lewis was a boy. You can take tours of the house during the summer. You can also visit by making an appointment at other times of the year.
Contents
About the House
The Sinclair Lewis Boyhood Home is a two-story building. It is made of wood and has an L-shape. The roof has a pointed shape called a gable roof. The outside walls are covered with overlapping wooden boards.
A porch is at the front of the house. It has thin, square posts that hold up the porch roof. These posts have decorations on them.
Inside the house, there are eight rooms. On the first floor, you will find a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen. The kitchen leads to a small, closed-in porch. Upstairs, there are four bedrooms. There is also a bathroom with running water and a toilet.
Behind the house, there is a small building. This building is a carriage house. It was used to keep carriages and horses in the past.
Sinclair Lewis's Early Life
The Lewis family first lived in a house across the street. Sinclair Lewis was born there on February 7, 1885. He had two older brothers, Fred and Claude. When Sinclair was just a few months old, his family moved into this house.
Sinclair's father, Edwin J. Lewis, was a doctor. He saw his patients right in their home. This was common for doctors back then. Sinclair's mother, Emma, passed away in 1891. Sinclair was six years old at the time. The next year, his father married Isabel Warner. Sinclair seemed to enjoy her company.
Sinclair loved to read books from a young age. He also kept a diary. He started writing stories and poems. Sometimes, he would write in the attic of the carriage house.
Sinclair's father was strict. It was hard for him to understand his sensitive son. Sinclair was tall and thin. He had acne and his eyes seemed to stick out a bit. He often felt lonely and found it hard to make friends. When he was 13, he tried to run away from home. He wanted to join the army as a drummer boy in the Spanish–American War, but he was not successful. In 1902, when he was 17, Lewis left Sauk Centre. He went to school on the East Coast. He later graduated from Yale University in 1908.
How Sauk Centre Inspired a Famous Book
Sinclair Lewis's experiences growing up in Sauk Centre helped him write his first novel. This book was called Main Street. It was published in 1920. Many parts of the book came from real events in his youth.
Lewis wrote about his feelings of being an outsider. He praised good small-town values. But he also criticized people who were not honest about those values. Main Street quickly made Lewis famous around the world. However, the people of Sauk Centre recognized their town in the book. The fictional town was called Gopher Prairie. Many residents felt upset by how their town was shown.
Restoring the Home
By the mid-1900s, the house had been changed. It was turned into a two-family home. The dining room on the first floor became a bedroom and bathroom. A kitchen was added upstairs. Other changes included covering the outside with a rough plaster. The kitchen downstairs was divided. A door to the back porch was sealed. The floors were replaced. The front porch was closed in. A window was added to the roof.
In 1956, the Sinclair Lewis Foundation bought the house. With help from the Minnesota Historical Society, they restored it. They wanted it to look like it did when Lewis lived there. They undid many of the changes. They also put up old-style wallpaper. They replaced the roofs on the house and carriage house. Heating and cooling systems were put in the basement. The yard was also restored. The money for the restoration came from selling Lewis's birthplace house. This house was across the street. The restoration was finished in 2003. Now, the house has furniture and items from that time period. Some items even belonged to the Lewis family.
See also
