Wright at Home

Orville Wright was the most famous person to ever call Oakwood, Ohio home. His gorgeous estate, Hawthorn Hill, is a National Historic Landmark and a true point of pride for the greater Dayton region. When Orville, his younger sister, Katharine, and their elderly father, Bishop Milton Wright, moved into the house in April of 1914, they joined a neighborhood filled with industrialists, inventors and other luminaries.

Dayton History and the Oakwood Historical Society have joined together for a unique glimpse into this fascinating time period. From 11:00 until 5:00, Oakwood residents, members of Dayton History and the Oakwood Historical Society, and the general public are invited to experience Hawthorn Hill in a way that hasn’t been seen in over 60 years. Dozens of pieces of Orville’s original furniture have been returned to their original spots within the home after sitting in storage for decades. As visitors move through the house, knowledgeable guides will share information about the historic structure, its contents and its brilliant, and often mischievous, owner.

As visitors move their attention from inside the home to the surrounding neighborhood, Oakwood Historical Society volunteers will conduct walking tours of the Oakwood neighborhood near Hawthorn Hill. These tours will shed insight into the men who developed Oakwood in the late 19th Century as Dayton’s newest streetcar suburb and how their new enterprise nearly failed. The tour will also highlight noteworthy architectural features of a variety of homes, as well as the stories associated with the people who lived and worked in the neighborhood when the Wright family arrived.