Fodor's Expert Review Thomas Wolfe Memorial

Asheville's most famous son, novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900–38), grew up in a 29-room Queen Anne–style home that his mother ran as a boardinghouse. In his prime in the 1930s, Wolfe was widely viewed as one of the best writers America had ever produced. The house—memorialized as "Dixieland" in Wolfe's novel Look Homeward, Angel–-has been restored to its original 1916 condition, including a light canary-yellow paint (though Wolfe called it "dirty yellow") on the exterior. You'll find a visitor center and many displays, and there are hourly guided tours of the house and heirloom gardens.