A National Historic Landmark

The Childhood Home, the treasure of our restored buildings, contains many family artifacts including furniture, canned goods, prints and artwork, and family photographs and books. Grandma Boak's room evokes the description in Cather's short story "Old Mrs. Harris." Upstairs, a "story within itself," is young Willa's small attic bedroom, which closely resembles Thea Kronborg's in The Song of the Lark. Willa is believed to have wallpapered this room herself, taking the wallpaper as pay for her work at Dr. Cook's drug store.