How to Tour Carl Sandburg's Connemara House

In 1945, Carl Sandburg, poet, journalist, historian, singer and folklorist, moved to "Connemara," a 240-acre farm in Flat Rock, North Carolina that would be his home until his death in 1967. Here, surrounded by his wife, daughters, grandchildren, tens of thousands of books and hundreds of his wife's goats, Sandburg finished the condensation of his multi-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln, his autobiography and Pulitzer Prize-winning "Complete Poems." His farm and 2 1/2-story main house are now open to the public.

Instructions

1. Start the tour by going up the front steps to the first floor porch. Just off the porch is the living room, which served mostly as a music room for the Sandburg family. It features Carl's guitar, his daughter Margaret's piano and photographs by Carl's brother-in-law, Edward Steichen. There is a small greenhouse off the eastern end of the room. You'll notice the lack of curtains: Mrs. Paula Sandburg thought curtains would spoil her views of the outdoors. Next door to the living room is the downstairs study/reception room, which was the main distribution center for Carl's work. His secretary was based here and this was where mail went in and out. As is true of all the other rooms in the house, this study was lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.

2. Behind the downstairs study is Paula's farm office. Paula was an award-winning goat breeder and it was here that she dealt with the paperwork concerning her herd. Proceed from here into the dining room, which was the main gathering area of the family and a popular spot for bird watching. East of the dining room is the suite occupied originally by daughter Helga and her children and later by Margaret; it's used today as administrative offices. Move from here to the inner stair hall. Every day Carl would place books he'd finish in this hall, and based on where he left a book family librarian Margaret would know where Carl wanted it shelved. The hall leads to Paula Sandburg's bedroom and the kitchen, as well as the now-closed utility room where Paula ironed and sewed.

3. Take the back stairs up to the second floor. The first room to the left is Sandburg's cluttered study, where he would stay up all night working, his typewriter standing on an orange crate. The room is heated by a pot-bellied stove and is filled with crates and boxes full of notes and paperwork. Next to the study is Sandburg's bedroom, where he would sleep through the morning. The sloping ceiling is covered with pictures he had torn out of magazines. Move along to the north end of the hall to see the "Crow's Nest," a guest room built over the front porch which had the best view in the house. Sandburg's grandchildren loved to sleep up here. There are two more bedrooms on this floor, once occupied by daughters Margaret and Janet, but which are now used as administrative offices.

4. Take the back stairs down to the above-ground basement. Some rooms down here were used by Paula for goat-raising functions, including the housing of kids during the winter. There was also a large room referred to as "the stacks," where excess books and magazines were kept.

5. Exit through the gift shop out the back door and explore the grounds, which include over 20 outbuildings, a tenant house, farm manager's house, gazebo, vegetable garden orchard, berry patch, nature trails and something called the "Swedish house," a two-story structure that housed even more books and magazines.