Historic Houses
Explore the University Museum’s Historic Houses, including William Faulkner’s home, Rowan Oak, and the Walton-Young House, a preserved Victorian-era residence. Experience Mississippi history and literary heritage through guided tours and exhibits.
Experience the Museum’s Historic Properties
The Historic Houses provide a firsthand look at the people and places that influenced Mississippi’s creative and cultural heritage. Visitors can walk the grounds of Rowan Oak, learn about the Walton and Young families, and enjoy the peaceful surroundings of Bailey Woods Trail. Together, these sites deepen the understanding of the region’s stories and the individuals who shaped them.
Rowan Oak
Originally built in 1844 and purchased by William Faulkner in 1930, Rowan Oak served as both home and creative sanctuary for one of America’s most influential writers. Faulkner renamed the property after the symbolic “rowan” and “oak” trees to represent peace, strength, and solitude, qualities reflected in his life and work. Within its quiet rooms, he penned many of his greatest novels, earning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949. Today, the house stands as a preserved tribute to Faulkner’s legacy, inviting visitors to explore the history, landscape, and imagination that shaped his storytelling.
The Walton-Young House
The Walton-Young Historic House is a registered Mississippi Landmark and a typical middle class home of the Victorian era. Horace H. Walton, who owned a hardware store on the Oxford Square, built the house in 1880. Walton and his wife, Lydia Lewis Walton, lived in the house with their three children, Lewis, Victoria, and Horace, until his death in 1891.
After Walton passed away, Lydia boarded university students in an upstairs bedroom to provide for her family. In 1895, she married Dr. Alfred Alexander Young, a country physician and widower from Como, Mississippi. Dr. Young moved into the house, bringing his son, Stark, and daughter, Julia.
Stark Young was the most famous resident of the Walton-Young house, and he remained there while attending Ole Miss at the turn of the century. Young became a well-known novelist and playwright.
Dr. and Mrs. Young lived in the house until their deaths in 1925. The First Presbyterian Church of Oxford purchased the house for use as a parsonage. Four ministers’ families occupied the house over the next fifty years.
The university purchased the house in 1974, and it housed the Center for the Study of Southern Culture and the Honors College. The house became a part of the University Museum in 1997.
The house is located at the corner of University Avenue and Fifth Street, adjacent to the University Museum. The house is currently closed to the public.
Bailey Woods Trail
A National Recreation Trail, Bailey Woods Trail offers a serene, 20-minute walk through the same wooded landscape that William Faulkner explored daily and often drew upon in his writing. The trail is approximately 3/5 mile in length and connects Rowan Oak, Faulkner’s historic home and creative sanctuary, to the University Museum. Officially opened in 2008, it has become a favorite route for hikers, University classes, families, and pets. The Museum also incorporates the trail into its educational programs to encourage children and visitors to experience nature much as Faulkner once did. Bicycles are not permitted.
