Rowan Oak is William Faulkner's home from 1930 until his death in 1962 and the most important literary house in the American South. Built around 1844 in the Greek Revival style, the building was a near-ruin when Faulkner bought it for $6,000 and spent decades restoring and extending it — most of the work he did himself, learning carpentry, plumbing, and farming as he went. The University of Mississippi has owned the house since 1972 and keeps it almost exactly as he left it.
Most of the rooms are accessible. The study on the ground floor still holds his typewriter, his desk, and the outline of A Fable written in pencil and red crayon directly on the walls. The grounds — twenty-nine acres of cedars, lawns, and woods — are open free of charge from dawn to dusk; the house itself charges a small admission fee and is closed on Mondays. The walking trail at the back of the property leads to Bailey's Woods and on into the University Museum, which together make a good half-day.