American author Thomas Wolfe spent much of his youth at this boarding house, which was purchased by his mother in 1906. While most of his brothers and sisters lived with their father in their house a few blocks away, Wolfe’s mother insisted that he live with her at the boarding house.
Wolfe chronicled his early life in Look Homeward, Angel, a novel that drew heavily from his time at Old Kentucky Home. One of the defining moments of Wolfe’s time at the boarding house was the death of his beloved brother Ben, who died in the house.
Today, the Old Kentucky Home is the Thomas Wolfe Memorial. It’s an interesting slice of American literary history. Behind the house is a museum celebrating Thomas Wolfe. Both the house and the museum are well worth a visit.
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