William Faulkner's Rowan Oak (Old Taylor Road)
Rowan Oak is open for self-guided tours between 10-4 Tuesday through Saturday and on Sunday from 1-4.
"I discovered that my own little postage stamp of native soil was worth writing about and that I would never live long enough to exhaust it." -- William Faulkner
"The past is never dead. It's not even past." -- William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun
From downtown Oxford's Courthouse Square it's an easy walk to William Faulkner's Rowan Oak, his residence from 1930 until his death in 1962. The name "Rowan Oak" comes from the Celtic legend about a "rowan tree," a tree that assures safety and protection. Faulkner wrote many of his novels and shorter works here, inspired by the stories he heard about the house, town, and region. After his death, the house remained in the family until 1972 when the University of Mississippi acquired it. Rowan Oak looks much the way it did when Faulkner and his family lived there.
Even though you enter the grounds from a residential area, it feels far away from neighbors and town. The "primitive Greek Revival" house was build in the 1840s by pioneer settler, Colonel Sheegog. Over the years, Faulkner made additions and renovations to the home. The cedars that line the picturesque path leading to the house were also planted in the 1840s. After opening the front door, you step into the hallway. The high ceilings, white walls, fireplaces, and wood floors make the home feel warm and roomy. On the left side of the hallway, near the entrance, is the library, with bookshelves Faulkner built. To the right is the parlor. Walking down the hallway, you can peak into the dining room, with a painting done by Faulkner's mother, Maud Butler. From the dining room, two French doors lead to a covered patio, while the other two doors lead to the pantry and kitchen. Across the hallway, displays line the wall. They share photographs and information about Oxford; Rowan Oak; Faulkner's family, including his wife, Estelle, and daughter, Jill; his Nobel Prize; and his death. Nearby is Faulkner's office, one of the more important rooms in the house. The plaque near the door shares details about the room:
Faulkner added this room after 1950. The plot outline of A Fable is written on the wall in Faulkner's hand. He used graphite pencil and a red grease pencil to set down this working plan of the novel, which is about holy week during World War I. The outline is similar to the storyboard technique he used when he was a screenwriter in Hollywood. The small table where the typewriter rests was given to him by his mother, and he used it virtually all the years he lived at Rowan Oak, sometimes moving it outside with one of the Adirondack chairs to enjoy the outdoors while he wrote. To the left of the door is a small field-top desk made by Faulkner and his stepson Malcolm.
Two stairways lead to the second floor, one in the front of the house and one in the back. Climbing up the back stairway, you reach the wide upstairs hallway. The back bedroom was Estelle's. It's a pretty room, with large windows looking out on the leafy yard and an easel standing near the bed. Estelle enjoyed painting and bird watching. A short, narrow passageway leads between Estelle's and William's rooms. The number "64" over the fireplace in William's bedroom was an identifying number he wore at a Virginia horse show. His bookshelves show a wide range of interest. Photography also interested Faulkner, as indicated by the cameras resting on the mantel. Riding boots and field boots "remain as testaments of his love for the outdoors."
Jill's bedroom was at the front of the house. Windows look out on the expansive grounds. A portrait of her, painted by her grandmother, rests on the mantel. The radio her parents gave her for graduation and books on horses and poetry reflect Jill's interests. The bedroom across from Jill's "was occupied by various children during Faulkner's time at Rowan Oak." Faulkner, according to the plaque near the door, "often entertained the children by telling ghost stories. One in particular was about Judith Skeegog, who was unlucky in love and flung herself off the balcony when faced with becoming an old maid. Faulkner told the children that she was buried under the Magnolia tree in the garden opposite the house...." Before moving back downstairs, look out the front window for a lovely view of the pathway leading to the the house, the deep green cedars, and front garden area.
You may find it difficult to leave the house, knowing its history and the literature that was created here. And, the life, too, of Faulkner and his family, of friends and acquaintances. And, even farther back to Colonel Skeegog and those who lived on the land before him. When you do leave, you'll want to walk the grounds. Make sure to pass by the Magnolia in Faulkner's ghost story. In addition to the gardens, there are five buildings in back, four of which date back to the 1840s, including the servant's quarters, Post Oak Barn, and detached kitchen. If you've worn your walking shoes, you may want to saunter through Bailey's Woods. Faulkner, who purchased the thirty-two acres, would have taken this route to reach his brother John's house, now part of the University of Mississippi. The forest closes in as you walk, giving you the sense that civilization is far away.
There is no gift shop at Rowan Oak, no film, no guided tour. As you walk through the home, grounds, and woods, it is easy to imagine why this house meant so much to William Faulkner, as refuge and inspiration.
If you have time, there are many other William Faulkner related sites to visit in and around Oxford. The town and region are proud of their native son and make it easy for visitors to follow in his footsteps. The brochure, Faulkner Country and the book, Touring Literary Mississippi, are useful guides. Some of the more meaningful sites include:
In Oxford:
The Lafayette County Courthouse
At the center of Oxford life, the Courthouse was characterized in Faulkner's Requiem for a Nun:
but above all, the courthouse: the center, the focus, the hub; sitting looming in the center of the county's circumference like a single cloud in its ring of horizon, laying its vast shadow to the uttermost rim of horizon; musing, brooding, symbolic and ponderable, tall as cloud, solid as rock, dominating all: protector of the weak, judiciate and curb of the passions and lusts, repository and guardian of the aspirations and hopes....
Duvall's (103 Courthouse Square)
The location of First National Bank, where John Wesley Thompson Falkner served as the first bank president and Faulkner's paternal grandfather, William, worked as a bookkeeper.
Freeland and Freeland (1013 Jackson Avenue)
Now Freeland and Freeland, this was the office of Phil Stone, a good friend of Faulkner. He encouraged Faulkner to publish his first manuscript.
St. Peter's Episcopal Church (113 S. Ninth Street)
Faulkner was a member here, but only attended occassionally. His daughter, Jill, was married here.
Duvall House (803 University Avenue)
Owned by Elma Meek when William and Estelle were first married, they rented part of the house after their marriage. "A Rose for Emily" was written here.
Memory House (406 University Avenue)
This was the home of John, William's brother, and his family. A writer himself, he wrote a memoir about William, My Brother Bill.
J. D. Williams Library, University of Mississippi
The library's "Mississippi Collection" includes books, papers, photographs, etc. on Faulkner and other Mississippi writers.
College Hill Presbyterian Church (County Road 138)
William and Estelle were married here on July 20, 1929. It was the model for Seminary Hill in Faulkner's The Town.
Dean Faulkner Wells House (510 South Lamar Street)
Long part of the Falkner/Faulkner family, it is now owned by William Faulkner's niece and her husband.
Faulkner's Childhood Home (910 Buchanan Avenue)
William lived here from ages five to eight, along with his parents, Murray and Maud Faulkner, his brothers, and maternal grandmother, Leila Butler.
St. Peter's Cemetery (Jefferson Avenue and North 16th Street)
William and Estelle Faulkner are buried here, along with many other family members.
Beyond Oxford:
Taylor (Take Old Taylor Road from Oxford)
Faulkner would often take the hiking and horse trail to Taylor. According to Touring Literary Mississippi: "On the road [to Taylor] about two miles south of Oxford was the old county poorhouse mentioned in The Town and Sartoris. Taylor is one of the few sites in his fictional Yoknapatawpha County for which Faulkner used the real name. In Sanctuary Temple Drake leaves a special train loaded with Ole Miss students at Taylor Depot to begin her woeful adventures."
Greenfield Farm (On Highway 30 about 17 miles from Oxford)
Faulkner bought Greenfield Farm in the 1930s. He would go there to hunt and fish.
New Albany
William Faulkner was born in New Albany on September 25, 1897. A historical marker is at the site, 204 Cleveland Street, of the home where he was born. William Faulkner lived in New Albany until he was eighteen months old. The family then moved to Ripley and finally to Oxford.
Ripley
Ripley was a childhood home of William Faulkner. He and his family lived there until 1902. Sites in town recall Faulkner and his family history, including the Ripley Cemetery, the site of his childhood home, and the home of his great-grandfather, Dr. John Young Murray.
Oxford and the surrounding region are, indeed, William Faulkner country. One destination leads to the next, places and literature intertwine. You'll be planning to return even before you leave Lafayette County - Yoknapatawpha County.
"...writing is a solitary job -- that is, nobody can help you with it, but there's nothing lonely about it. I have always been too busy, too immersed in what I was doing, either mad at it or laughing at it to have time to wonder whether I was lonely or not lonely, it's simply solitary. I think there is a difference between loneliness and solitude." -- William Faulkner at the University of Virginia, 1958
"The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, whan a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life." -- William Faulkner
"It is my aim, and every effort bent, that the sum and history of my life, which in the same sentence is my obit and epitaph too, shall be them both: He made the books and he died." -- William Faulkner