Boyhood Home

2022 Preservation Project Completion

After several months of extensive preservation work including exterior lead paint abatement and maintenance updates, the home is ready to once again welcome visitors. Scheduled tours are now available Tuesday through Sunday and are limited to 10 guests per time slot. Tickets may only be purchased onsite. 

Boyhood Home Tours

Guided tours are scheduled every half hour and are limited to 10 people per tour. Tickets must be purchased in person.

*All home tours are scheduled and tickets may only be purchased in person.

History of the Home

Opened for public tours in 1947, this typical 19th century home was occupied by the Eisenhower family from 1898 until Mrs. Eisenhower's death in 1946.

David and Ida Eisenhower purchased their home on South East Fourth Street from David's brother, Abraham Lincoln Eisenhower. The family moved into the six-room home in late 1898. The title changed from Abraham to Ida on April 4, 1899, for the sum of $1,000. Ida in turn sold the house to David for $1.00 on May 18, 1908. The real estate consisted of all but two lots of the block bordered on the west by Chestnut (now Kuney) Street, the east by Olive Street, north by South East Third Street and the south by South East Fourth. The Eisenhower property had between 2.5-3 acres which contained the house, a large barn, chicken house, smoke house, outhouse, orchard, strawberry patch, and a large kitchen garden located to the east of the house.

In 1900, Grandfather Jacob Eisenhower moved in with David, Ida and their six sons. At that time, two bedrooms and a walk-through closet were added to the east side of the house. The new south bedroom was used by David and Ida, with Jacob using the smaller north bedroom. Jacob lived with the family until his death in 1906.

The north bedroom was converted to the indoor bathroom around 1908. The last addition to the Eisenhower home consisted of a small kitchen, pantry and an enclosed back porch added in 1915. The home is furnished as it was at the time of Ida Eisenhower's death in 1946. The furnishings are original to the home although some have been moved to accommodate visitors touring the home. The wallpapers in the two parlors, dining room, and hallway are identical to the papers in the home in 1946.

When Ida Eisenhower passed away in 1946, her six sons donated the property to the Eisenhower Foundation. It has been open to the public since early 1947, originally as a World War II Veterans Memorial and now as the boyhood home of Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States.