Welcome to the Oakwood Register

August 29, 2006 - Volume 15, Number 35

a Winkler Company publication

Also featuring photos from our monthly supplement...

A Tudor Thoroughbred on Thruston

Hawthorn Hill - Photo Courtesy of NCR Corporation

Letter to the Oakwood Community:

On August 18th, one day before my Uncle Orville’s birthday, the NCR Corporation made a generous gift to the nation when the keys to Hawthorn Hill were handed to my sister Amanda and I as trustees of The Wright Family Foundation.

For almost 60 years NCR used Orville Wright’s home as a VIP guest house and meeting facility while occasionally opening it for various private and charitable functions as well as public tours. They were even generous enough to make Hawthorn Hill available for two perpetual newlyweds, my great aunt and uncle, Ivonette and Harold Miller, to celebrate their 50th and 65th wedding anniversaries there. They were married at Hawthorne Hill in 1918.

The condition of the house can be described using one word; pristine. We owe a debt of gratitude to NCR for more than half a century of unfailing stewardship in maintaining this gem.

Amanda and I thought it a good idea to let the neighbors to Hawthorn Hill and the community know that although our Uncle Orv’s house has changed ownership for only the third time in it’s existence, the philosophy of its’ ownership will not change.
Orville Wright, by all accounts, was regarded well by his neighbors. He was committed to keeping his neighborhood quiet, his home beautiful, and to making his city a better place to live. We’d have to admit however, that Uncle Orv’s commitment to this philosophy was not without certain imperfections. For instance, the serenity of the neighborhood, nay, even the safety of his neighbors may have been in doubt when Uncle Orv was behind the wheel of his Franklin Touring Car. Uncle Orv had the need for speed.

The beauty of his home and the peace and quiet offered by this great neighborhood was at least one time temporarily threatened by the overnight stay of the most famous man in the world at the height of his fame. Charles Lindbergh was in town to call on Orville and a sizable crowd gathered around the house to see if they could get a glimpse of ‘Lucky Lindy.’ They even had the cheek to peer through the windows. Fearing for his landscaping, Orville convinced a not-too-willing Mr. Lindbergh to make an appearance on the upstairs balcony of sister Katharine’s bedroom. The plan worked. The crowd was satisfied. Peace returned to Hawthorn Hill. A little excitement never hurt anybody I guess.

NCR was a good neighbor too except for the occasional celebrity buzz. Arnold Palmer, Bob Hope and Jack Nicklaus, among others, have been guests there over the years and they attracted a few onlookers. Their visits gave us something to talk about over the fence.

For almost one hundred years, Hawthorn Hill has been a sort of architectural ambassador for our great, quiet tree lined community. Oakwood has been home for my family and me for twenty of those years, and I wouldn’t want it’s character and quality of life to change.

Amanda and I are still waiting for the dust to settle on our new ownership of the house. We’ve only known of this generous gift for a couple of months and it’s a lot to digest. We have assembled a team which includes a neighbor to Hawthorn Hill and Oakwood’s city manager as well as representatives of Dayton History, the Aviation Heritage Foundation and the National Park Service among others to begin making plans for the future.

We wish to make limited, controlled visitation to the house by the general public a regular event and we are not alone in our desire to do so. Our planning group is unanimous in agreement that visitors touring the house will be transported to the site from a remote parking area in a small, quiet vehicle. There will be no signs directing visitors to the house or at the house itself.

Hawthorn Hill is a National Historic Landmark and an important addition to our new National Aviation Heritage Area. It is only fitting to share it with those visitors from around the nation and the world who come to visit Dayton, the city where aviation began. My wife is a teacher’s aid at Harman Elementary. Recently she told me that a fellow teacher had pointed out a great irony to her. Imagine teaching the history of The Wright Brothers to third and fourth grade students who attend school one block from Hawthorn Hill and then having to tell them that they can’t visit the house.

It is my opinion that limited, controlled visitation to Hawthorn Hill should be viewed by Oakwood residents as a contribution to the greater economic and cultural good of our eight county Heritage Area. The time is right to begin sharing this treasure with the world in a thoughtful way. It will not happen overnight. There is much planning yet to be done. Activity and maintenance at Hawthorn Hill for the foreseeable future will continue as it always has.

Rest assured that we are committed to ensure that Hawthorn Hill’s future in the community continues in the spirit of the man who once lived there. It shall remain a respectful neighbor and it will continue to be part of the reason why Oakwood is a great place to live.

Yours truly,

Stephen Wright
Great grandnephew, Wilbur and Orville Wright

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