Cather Second Home Guest House

At the corner of Sixth and Seward stands the Cather family’s second home. They lived here from 1904 until the death of Cather’s parents (father in 1928, mother in 1931). Willa Cather's parents purchased this home in 1903 and left their little rented home at Third and Cedar where Willa had spent her formative years. She was 30 at the time. Over the next 28 years, Willa often visited her family in this house during summers and occasionally for Christmas. It has been reported that she used to put up a tent-like awning on the upper front porch and spent a great deal of time there. Cather's last visit to Red Cloud was for a family reunion at Christmas in 1931. She described this house as the Ferguesson family home in one of her short stories, "The Best Years," in her book, Five Stories.

The Cather Second Home is a host-free guest house located within walking distance of the National Willa Cather Center and Red Cloud Opera House, both operated by the Willa Cather Foundation, as well as downtown restaurants and shops, a family-run grocery store, and the Auld Public Library.