Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site: Connemara

Carl Sandburg Home

Carl Sandburg Home Located in Flat Rock, near Hendersonville, (about 30 miles south of downtown Asheville), is the fascinating home of America's poet, Carl Sandburg. It was designated as a National Historic Site in 1968 to honor Carl Sandburg's compelling collection of stories about the American people; their plights, struggles, joys and hopes as told through Sandburg's poetry, prose, journalism and biography. (Next door is Flat Rock Playhouse.)

Taking a guided tour of the historic Carl Sandburg Home with over 65,000 artifacts on display is an insightful glimpse into the lives of the Sandburg family. The 30-minute house tours are offered daily, except Christmas day. Tours begin at 9:30am; the last tour departs at 4:30pm. Tours are limited to 15 visitors. From Memorial Day until October and weekends throughout the year, tours are offered every half an hour. November through Memorial Day, tours are offered once an hour on the half-hour only. Take a 1/3 mile trail up a hill to reach the house. If you are unable to walk, use the phone by the parking lot for assistance.

Connemara Dairy Mrs. Sandburg owned and operated a premier goat dairy from 1935 to 1965. Here at Connemara the dairy became a Grade A operation, with milk being distributed to local dairies and sold in stores around the community. Mrs. Sandburg's goat breeding program produced champion goats and led to the improvement of goats as milk producing animals.

Enjoy the Connemara Farms' goat-herd. The park service raises goats that represent the three breeds of goats Mrs. Sandburg raised at Connemara. Rangers and volunteers are on hand to share this facinating story about goats and Mrs. Sandburg's dairy goat operation.

"It is necessary now and then for a man to go away by himself and experience loneliness; to sit on a rock in the forest and to ask of himself, 'Who am I, and where have I been, and where am I going?'...If one is not careful, one allows diversions to take up one's time-the stuff of life" -Carl Sandburg as quoted from a letter to his friend, Ralph McGill.

Enjoy the solitude of Connemara. Hike (see map) its many trails and take from it the energy to avoid diversions. There are five miles of trails - various lengths and difficulties, including a trail to the top of Glassy Mountain.

Park Ranger programs are given throughout the summer months. In May, the Folk Music Festival presents music from Sandburg's The American Songbag. Please call a Park Ranger at 828-693-4178 to check the schedule for the time you wish to visit.

Carl Sandburg Home

Carl Sandburg Home / Connemara 2013 Special Events

Fee Free Day at National Parks - April 22-26, 2013
Tour fees at Carl Sandburg Home and entrance fees at most national parks will be waived during National Park Week.

Spring Into the Park - Saturday, April 27, 2013
10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Celebrate National Junior Ranger Day at Carl Sandburg Home NHS with a day full of activities to learn more about Carl Sandburg and the National Park Service.

Carl Sandburg Folk Music Festival - Monday, Memorial Day, May 27, 2013
11:00 am - 4:00 p.m.
Join folk musicians from around the country as they perform folk music inspired by Carl Sandburg's American Songbag. Festival is free to attend.

Historic Connemara Walking Tours - June 1, 2013 at 11am, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm
In cooperation with the Village of Flat Rock's annual Ice Cream Social, the park offers walking tours of the grounds of Connemara sharing the history of the site before the Sandburg's moved in. East tour lasts one hour. No reservation required. Tours begin in the bookstore of the Sandburg Home.

Rootabaga! and the World of Carl Sandburg: June 19 - August 10
Wednesday through Saturday, apprentice actors from the Flat Rock Playhouse, will share performances at 10:15 a.m., at the park amphitheatre adjacent to the Sandburg Home. Wednesday and Friday's 30-minute performance will be the World of Carl Sandburg based on Sandburg's pulitzer prize-winning collection of poetry. Thursday and Saturday's performance is Rootabaga!, based on tales from Sandburg's collection of children's stories found in Rootabaga Stories set to musical tunes from Sandburg's collection of folk music found in his American Songbag. The result is 30-minutes of zany, toe-tapping stories that delight "children" of all ages. Performances are held rain or shine.

Fee Free Day at National Parks - August 25, 2013
Tour fees at Carl Sandburg Home and entrance fees at most national parks will be waived on Get Outdoors Day

Fall Into the Farm - Saturday, September 21, 2013
10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Enjoy a fun fall festival at the park. Learn about corn fairies through storytelling and make your own corn husk version. Cheese demonstrations, square dancing and farm-life tours and activities take you back the 1940's and 50's when the Sandburg's lived at Connemara.

Fee Free Day at National Parks - September 28, 2013
Tour fees at Carl Sandburg Home and entrance fees at most national parks will be waived on National Public Lands Day.

Fee Free Day at National Parks - November 9-11, 2013
Tour fees at Carl Sandburg Home and entrance fees at most national parks will be waived during Veterans Day weekend.

Christmas at Connemara - Saturday, December 7, 2013
11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Musicians and storytellers will perform traditional holiday stories and music. Hot cider and cookies will be served. This free festive celebration will honor Carl Sandburg and the family holiday tradition of music. Young visitors will find many opportunities for participation in storytelling and sing-a-longs too. The house will be decorated in the simple style of the Sandburgs with poinsettias and a traditionally decorated Christmas tree throughout December until January 6th, 2013

Admission: Free for grounds, trails and barn; no park entrance fee.
Guided House Tour Fee: $5.00 for Adults 17 and older; $3.00 for seniors 62 and older (cash or check only); Children under 16 admitted free
Hours: Open daily 9 AM until 5 PM, except Christmas Day.

From Asheville: (40 minute drive from downtown) Take I-26 east to exit 53 - turn right onto Upward Road. From Upward Road and intersection with Rt. 176 (now U.S. 25) continue straight. Upward Road is now No. Highland Lake Road. At the light, turn left onto Rt.225/Greenville Hwy south. At next light take a right onto Little River Road. Visitor parking on left.

Go to their Web site.

Official romantic guide for vacations in Asheville and the North Carolina Mountains
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