Held each April, Wright at Home offers guests the rare opportunity to explore the Wright family home while learning about the historic Oakwood neighborhood that surrounded it, including the homes of J.W. Green, inventor of the Cheez-It, and Bill Chryst, a member of Charles Kettering’s legendary Barn Gang who helped invent the automobile self-starter.

Over the years, Hawthorn Hill welcomed numerous famous visitors, including Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Alexander Graham Bell, Ronald Reagan, Charles Lindbergh and James Cash “J.C.” Penny.  

With its white pillars and twin porches, the mansion has long been synonymous with Orville Wright and the Wright family. After purchasing land at Salem Avenue and Harvard Boulevard in the Dayton View neighborhood, the Wrights’ younger sister, Katharine, persuaded her famous brothers to build instead in Oakwood’s rolling hills.  

Both Orville and Wilbur influenced the home’s design, but Wilbur died of typhoid fever on May 30, 1912, at age 45, before construction began. When the house was completed in 1914, Hawthorn Hill became the residence of Orville, Katharine and their elderly father, Bishop Milton Wright. 

After Orville Wright’s death on Jan. 30, 1948, Hawthorn Hill was purchased by NCR for use as a corporate guest house. For the next 58 years, the historic home was was carefully preserved but rarely open to the public.” 

Today, the mansion, a unit of Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, is owned and operated by Dayton History, a privately funded nonprofit that receives no ongoing federal support. For decades, many people wondered about the mysterious Wright mansion atop the hill. At Wright at Home, the mystery is revealed, if only in part.  

Tickets for Wright at Home are $40 and include admission to Hawthorn Hill and the guided walking tour of the surrounding Oakwood neighborhood. Advance reservations are required. Tickets can be purchased at daytonhistory.org. 

Proceeds benefit Dayton History and The Oakwood Historical Society, two privately funded nonprofits dedicated to preserving and sharing the stories of the Dayton region. 

Held in April and September, Home School Day is a wonderful way for home-schooled students to enjoy hands-on educational activities and programs. With a 4-D animatronic theatre, 30 exhibit buildings, costumed historical interpreters, object theatre presentations at the Wright Brothers National Museum, carousel rides, and more, Home School Day is fun for the whole family!

Ticket includes:
• Access to all Carillon Historical Park exhibits
• Gardening
• Rug Hooking
• Bread Baking and Brewery Talk
• Historic Printing Demonstrations

Regular admission fees apply. FREE to Dayton History members.

From intimate ceremonies to large receptions, Dayton History’s venues offer a one-of-a-kind blend of natural beauty, historic charm, and timeless atmosphere — ensuring your special event is unforgettable. And as a privately funded nonprofit, your event directly supports our mission: inspiring generations by connecting them with the unique people, places, and events that changed Dayton and the world.

Each year students from around the globe visit Carillon Historical Park. By combining a general Park tour with our hands-on educational workshops, visitors are offered a more focused field trip.

Interpretive staff are stationed throughout the Park, and tour groups may proceed at their own pace. Tours may be tailored to specific needs; focuses include transportation, invention, and settlement history.

Once you arrive at the park, buses should drive to the drop-off area in front of the Kettering Family Education Center. School buses can fit under the covered drop-off area. For your reference, the overhang is 12’6” tall.

Buses should proceed along the lane and turn right onto the main driveway. Follow this route around the perimeter of the Park to a lot where buses can turn around. After turning around, buses may park in the designated Bus Parking Lane on the right side of the main driveway (facing the Carillon). This position ensures buses are facing the correct direction for pick-up at the Kettering Family Education Center.

All groups must check in at the Kettering Family Education Center admission desk. Payment is due upon arrival. You may use cash, checks, major credit cards, invoices, or purchase orders to pay for your visit.

• If paying with cash, we ask that you collect your student and chaperone admission fees ahead of time and pay with the largest bills possible.
• If paying by purchase order or invoice, we will invoice you after your visit to ensure that you only pay for the number of students that come the day of your visit.

After checking in, teachers will receive:

• A guide map of Carillon Historical Park for each class with a suggested starting location.
• A 4-D “Build for Tomorrow” Theater ticket time.
• Educational Program Ticket with locations, times, and facilitator names for programs (when applicable).
• Evaluation Form

When check-In is completed, you will be directed by a staff member to your suggested starting location.