Not many people know this, but this historic house in Oak Park is what Ernest Hemingway called home for the first six years of his life. On top of being Hemingway’s first home, this property was the first in the entirety of Oak Park to have electricity. We like to imagine the sound of Ernest’s mother’s voice, opera singer and composer Grace Hemingway, brightening the home from within. The office is where the Hemingway children would go as punishment.

This is also where Tyler Hancock, Ernest’s uncle, stopped between trips as a salesman and regaled the children with stories from faraway lands. This very well could be the place Hemingway was first inspired to explore the world.

The wonderful thing about this home is that it is now owned and protected by the Earnest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park in 1992, so that visitors can follow guided tours to learn more about his life.