Few twentieth century American authors have left quite an impact and influence quite like Thomas Wolfe. The influence Wolfe had on expanding the genre of fiction and beautifully rendered prose can still be felt in the books that we enjoy today. Perhaps just as famous as the writer himself is the home that he grew up in which has become one of Asheville’s most popular tourist destinations. The sprawling mansion is not only an excellent example of nineteenth century architecture but the numerous patrons who lived in the home while it served as a boarding house would influence the works of Wolfe for his entire life.

Thomas Wolfe was born in early October in 1900. He was the youngest child of a prominent tombstone manufacturer William Oliver Wolfe and his wife Julia. Although their business never hurt for money Wolfe’s mother had a keen interest in real estate and purchased a Queen Anne style home nicknamed “Old Kentucky Home” with the intent on running it as a boarding house in 1906. Wolfe lived with his mother in the boarding house while the rest of the family lived in their other home across the city. Thomas lived in the home until he enrolled at North Carolina University in 1916 with the intention of becoming a playwright. Wolfe saw early success with his plays and entered into an early successful writing career eventually moving to New York City after graduating in 1920.

Wolfe’s early life and his childhood spent in the “Old Kentucky Home” would become the inspiration for his first novel, Look Homeward Angel. The fictionalized autobiographical style interlaced with experimental and impressionistic prose had a profound impact on Wolfe’s contemporaries notably William Faulkner and F. Scott Fitzgerald and eventually go on to influence later writers such as Ray Bradbury and Jack Karoac. Although many names were changed including Wolfe’s own to Eugene Grant and “Old Kentucky Home” to “Dixieland” the novel itself was banned from the Asheville library because many of the city’s residents felt uncomfortable with their own depictions in the story. Wolfe would go on to write three more novels based on his own life as well as numerous other short stories and plays. Tragically Wolf’s promising career was cut short when he fell ill with tuberculosis and succumbed just before his thirty-eighth birthday in 1938.

The author’s life and legacy live on in Asheville where the Thomas Wolfe House continues to be enjoyed by countless visitors to this day. If you decide to take a tour of this amazing home you’ll get to see the rooms where countless quirky residents and travelers spent their idle hours. Wind your way through the countless cavernous highways and see the countless artefacts of a bygone era. You don’t have to know a line of Wolfe’s work to appreciate the sprawling twenty-nine room estate and massive restoration effort to restore the home back to its former glory. Not only is the Thomas Wolfe House one of Asheville’s most visited landmarks, it serves as one of the nation’s most popular and most visited literary landmarks as well. Whether you’re a fan of the work of Thomas Wolfe, interested in local history, or are just looking for a fun way to spend an afternoon after attending one of our live conferences in Asheville this year. Come see a place that inspired the rest of a writer’s life and that continues to inspire numerous visitors to this day.

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