Carl Sandburg Home
Updated: February 2022
“A Poet of the People”
The Carl Sandburg Home is run by the National Park Service and combines a 264-acre park with the house itself, where you can learn about Carl Sandburg’s life and achievements.
“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.”
To visit the Main House, you need to join one of the guided tours, which go every 30 minutes. A short walk from the Main House is the Connemara Dairy Goat Farm. The goats roaming the farm are all true descendants of Lilian Sandburg’s champion goats. They are very tame and used to visitors. Some old farm equipment is also on display in the shed.
If you are up to a longer hike, you can follow the steep 1.2-mile Glassy Mountain Trail, which leads to the top of Big Glassy Mountain. From there you can relish the stunning panoramic views while also enjoying a nice picnic. Admission to the park is free.
The Carl Sandburg Home is a 265-acre estate encompassing the private residence of Carl and Lilian Sandburg, their Dairy Goat Farm and 5 miles (8 km) of beautiful trails.
Carl and Lilian Sandburg bought the Connemara estate in October of 1945 after a long search. Living in Harbert, Michigan, they were looking for a property in a warmer climate, which had to be peaceful and quiet with a lot of acreage for Lilian to raise her prize-winning dairy goats.
The Sandburgs moved from their old house in Michigan with 42,000 pounds (19,000 kg) of personal belongings including Carl Sandburg’s extensive 10,000-book library.
In the 22 years until his passing in 1967, Carl Sandburg, living in this home, published more than a third of his works and won the second Poetry Pulitzer Prize for Complete Poems in 1951. After her husband’s death in 1967, Lilian Sandburg decided to sell the estate to the U.S. government to preserve the house and the estate in her husband’s memory.
“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.”
-Carl Sandburg
Located on the property, the Connemara Dairy Goat Farm is open to visitors. The goats roaming the farm are all true descendants of Lilian Sandburg’s champion goats.
The goats are very tame and used to visitors socializing with them.
After the estate became a national historic site in 1968, the goats, which were once raised by Lilian, were declared a Historic Herd by the U.S. Government.
The goats represent the three breeds Lilian Sandburg had been raising.
There is also an old shed, which can be visited.
The shed houses old farm equipment and also Carl Sandburg’s personal Jeep.
Across from the shed is the Vegetable Garden. Several walking trails connect from here. If you want to enjoy Carl and Lilian Sandburg’s most favorite mountain view, a 1.2-mile (2 km) hike takes you up to Big Glossy Mountain along a wide yet steep trail. A few benches are located at intervals for visitors to take a break.
The views from the top of Big Glassy Mountain are stunning.
“We found that our land goes up ... to the very top of Big Glassy Mountain - at least a mile of real climbing from the house. The timber seems endless ... We did not just buy two-hundred and forty-five acres when we bought Connemara, we bought a million acres of sky, too!”
- Lilian Sandburg
Off the main trail atop Big Glossy Mountain and secluded behind trees is the mausoleum of Roger Richardson Hill (1882-1927), a successful real estate developer. At age 43 and suffering from tuberculosis, he bought 85 acres on Big Glassy Mountain and lived there in a tent between late spring and fall of 1926, before he moved to a drier climate in El Paso, Texas, where he died on January 1, 1927. In his will, he wished to be laid to rest on Big Glassy Mountain and set aside 5 acres for a mausoleum.
History
The Sandburgs had been looking for a property in a warmer climate for a while. It should be peaceful and quiet with a lot of acreage for Lilian to raise her prize-winning dairy goats. They found this property in the 264-acre Connemara estate, which they bought in October of 1945.
The Sandburgs moved from their old house in Harbert, Michigan with 42,000 pounds (19,000 kg) of personal belongings including Carl Sandburg’s extensive 10,000-book library.
During the 22 years until his passing in 1967, Carl Sandburg published more than a third of his works and won the second Poetry Pulitzer Prize for Complete Poems in 1951 while living there.
In 1919 Carl Sandburg had won his first Pulitzer Prize for Corn Huskers and in 1940 the Pulitzer Prize for History for The War Years, the second volume of his Abraham Lincoln biography (1926).
In 1927 Carl Sandburg published his widely popular collection of American folksongs, which went through several editions over the years.
After her husband’s death in 1967, Lilian Sandburg decided to sell the estate to the U.S. government to preserve the house and the estate in her husband’s memory. In 1968 the home became a national historic site and opened to the public in 1974 as Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. The goats, which were once raised by Lilian, were declared a Historic Herd by the U.S. Government. Their descendants can still be visited in the Goat Barn.
1928 Little River Road, Flat Rock NC, 28731
Mon. to Sun.: 9am to 5pm.
Tours of the Main House:
9:30am, 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30am, 1:30pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm and 4:30pm.
Tours last around 30 min.
House tours are still closed, but are planned to reopen later this year.
All year.
Free admission to the park, barn and trails.
Tours of the Main House:
Adults (16-61): $10
Seniors (62+): $6
Children (15 and younger): free
House tours are still closed, but are planned to reopen later this year.
At the Contact Station.
The house and the park are a great place to learn about this great American poet. Or visit the descendants of Lilian Sandburg’s goats in the Goat Barn.
The Video room in the Main House is at the ground level. Each film is 12 minutes or less.
Picnic area is close to the Contact Station near the entrance to the park. No concessions are sold in the park. Therefore, you would need to bring your own food and drinks. However, two fountains are available to re-fill water bottles.
Wonderful trails go through the 264-acre park. Enjoy the beauty of the landscape and the picturesque views.
Seasonal shuttle service from the parking area to the house and farm is available. Please contact the park ranger through one of the two phones (one by the accessible parking spaces and one by the lake’s restrooms) to arrange a pick-up.
Restrooms are located near the Main House and at the Contact Station.