Thurber House Museum and Thurber Center
Listed on the National Register of Historic
places, Thurber House was the home of author, humorist,
and New
Yorker cartoonist James Thurber and his family when
Thurber
was a student at The Ohio State University. Thurber
House opened in 1984 as a non-profit literary center and museum of
Thurber materials.
Thurber House is a living museum. We allow visitors to experience Thurber's life by becoming a guest of the Thurber family. While in the house museum, visitors are invited to sit on the chairs, play a tune on the downstairs piano, see the typewriter that was Thurber's while he was at the New Yorker, and become a part of literary history. (Stories about the time Thurber lived in this house are included in his My Life and Hard Times and The Thurber Carnival.)
Thurber House is furnished in the style of
the 1913-1917
period that Thurber lived in the home with his parents,
two brothers,
and several canine companions. The first two floors are
open daily
for tours. Next door to Thurber House is the Thurber
Center, a
contemporary classroom and conference facility. Between
the buildings
is the Centennial Reading Garden, complete with
sculptures of
five Thurber dogs, a fountain, and three Central Park
benches.
In this section, you'll find more information about Thurber House, the Thurber Country Bookstore, and the Thurber Center. You also can read about our ghostly encounters on the "Our Ghosts" page.
