Area less than one acre Architectural style Wood Frame; cedar roof Designated NHL May 23, 1968 Phone +1 320-352-5359 | Built 1885 NRHP Reference # 68000027 Opened 1885 Added to NRHP 23 May 1968 | |
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Address 810 Sinclair Lewis Ave, Sauk Centre, MN 56378, USA Similar O E Rolvaag House, Frank B Kellogg House, Andrew John Volstead, Mountain Iron Mine, Sinclair Lewis Park | ||
Postcards sinclair lewis boyhood home
The Sinclair Lewis Boyhood Home is a historic house museum and National Historic Landmark located at 812 Sinclair Lewis Avenue, formerly South 3rd Street, in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, United States. The house was the childhood home of Nobel prize-winning author Sinclair Lewis, who was born February 7, 1885, in a house directly across the street. His most famous book, Main Street was inspired by his home town of Sauk Centre as he perceived it from this home. The house is open for tours between Memorial Day and Labor Day, or by appointment.
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Description and history
The Lewis House is located on the north side of Sinclair Lewis Avenue (County Road 17), between Walnut and Maple Streets. It is an L-shaped wood frame structure, 1-1/2 stories in height, with clapboard siding. An open porch extends across the front, supported by slender square paneled posts, with decorative brackets and entablature. During part of the 20th century the house had been converted to a duplex, partitioning the interior, and the exterior had been finished in stucco and had other alterations. The house was acquired in 1956 by the Sinclair Lewis Foundation and carefully restored to its appearance during the time of Lewis's residence, with reproductions of period wallpaper and restoration of its original interior configuration. A period carriage barn stands behind the house.
Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) was born across the street, and the family moved here when he was a few months old. His father, Edwin J. Lewis, was a physician and conducted his medical practice out of this house, as was common in that time. Lewis began to write here as a young man, and his experiences growing up in Sauk Centre were the inspiration for Main Street, the 1920 novel that brought him fame. He was the first American awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, given in 1930.