Military Academy at West Point in 1911 | Wikimedia Commons Dwight D. Eisenhower, who later became the 34th president of the United States, lived in the house until he left for the U.S.
Ida Eisenhower died in 1946, when her six sons gave the family home in Abilene, Kansas, to the Eisenhower Foundation. The house opened to the public in June 1947 and was preserved with the furniture and household details that remained after their mother’s death. The house had been the Eisenhower family home since 1898. Military Academy at West Point in 1911. The family remained in the house until Ida died in 1946, according to the Eisenhower Presidential Library . The property covered about 2.5 to 3 acres and included a barn, chicken house, smokehouse, outhouse, orchard, strawberry patch and kitchen garden. In 1900, Ida’s father-in-law, Jacob Eisenhower, moved in with the family. Two bedrooms and a walk-through closet were added to the east side of the house, and an indoor bathroom was added around 1908, followed by a small kitchen, pantry and enclosed back porch in 1915. The brothers decided to preserve the family home The Eisenhower family home, Abilene, Kansas | Wikimedia Commons The home survived a major flood In July 1951, flooding damaged the basement and ruined part of its rock foundation. Repairs were completed several years later, and the home was rededicated in November 1956. A preservation project completed in 2022 included exterior lead-paint abatement and maintenance work. The home now provides scheduled tours from Tuesday through Sunday, with tours limited to 10 people at a time. The building where the Eisenhower family lived from 1898 until Ida’s death in 1946 has been receiving visitors since 1947.
David and Ida Eisenhower bought the six-room property on Southeast Fourth Street from David’s brother, Abraham Lincoln Eisenhower, and raised their six sons there. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who later became the 34th president of the United States, lived in the house until he left for the U.S. The first floor managed to escape the flood damage, but the structure needed substantial work. The White House Historical Association notes that later maintenance, including work on climate and security systems, exterior painting and reroofing, has helped retain its appearance. The house at Southeast Fourth Street remains part of the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home in Abilene.
