Inside Reclusive Millionaire Orville Wright’s Historic Ohio Mansion

The Wright brothers worked as bicycle mechanics in Dayton, Ohio, before becoming known as the fathers of modern aviation. In 1903, they became the first people to pilot an aircraft when their Wright Flyer, made of wood and fabric sewn on the family sewing machine, flew for 12 seconds on the shores of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Numerous patents and aircraft later, Orville Wright’s net worth was around $1.3 million when he died in 1948, which would be about $17.4 million in 2025 when adjusted for inflation.

The 1905 Wright Flyer III was the first airplane that could take off, remain in the air while being controlled by a pilot, and land safely without damage. It is also the first airplane to be designated a National Historic Landmark.

After Orville Wright’s death in 1948, National Cash Register purchased the home and used it as a corporate guest house. The company then gifted the estate to the Wright Family Foundation in 2006. Dayton History took ownership of Hawthorn Hill in 2013 and has worked to restore the home to its original, historic appearance.

Tours of Hawthorn Hill are offered on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Tickets cost $16 per person and are available through Dayton History.

A shuttle transports visitors from Carillon Historical Park to the mansion, located just under 3 miles away in the suburb of Oakwood.

During Dayton’s booming industrial years in the 1920s, when over 1,000 manufacturing facilities were established within the city’s limits, the suburb of Oakwood became a hot spot for wealthy industrialists to build expansive mansions.

Unlike other wealthy business tycoons who hired interior decorators, Orville Wright and his sister, Katharine Wright, picked out all of the furniture themselves. They bought most of it in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from Berkey and Gay Furniture Company and Century Furniture Company showrooms.

“The sofa, the two chairs, that mirror, that table, are all pieces that if he were to walk through the door today, he would recognize,” Heckman said of the entryway.

Famous guests at Hawthorn Hill included Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Created by Louis-Albert Carvin in 1908, the piece shows Wilbur and Orville Wright beneath a winged muse who points to an eagle in flight. The base of the statue depicts biplane wings and propellers.

“The idea was that the airplane was this new foundation, the airplane was the underpinning of it all,” Heckman said.

Two of Orville Wright’s nieces held their weddings at Hawthorn Hill, with their ceremonies taking place in front of the fireplace mantle in the living room.

He would often use this room to read or listen to the radio.

Orville Wright broke his leg in a plane crash in 1908. As a result, one leg was about an inch shorter than the other. To alleviate some of his pain, he drilled holes in the arms of a chair to mount a bookstand he could use instead of holding a book open. He also angled the footrest away from the seat cushion to take the pressure off his lower back and legs.

The clock on the bookshelf was set to 10:40, his time of death in 1948.

The stamp read “From the private library of Orville Wright” with an image of a plane.

Orville Wright was known for being painfully shy, but he also enjoyed a good practical joke in the comfort of his own home, Heckman said. He once hooked up a fishing line to a serving bowl of mashed potatoes to playfully prevent a greedy nephew from taking more than his fair share. Another time, he built a mechanical cockroach to dart across the Thanksgiving dinner table, causing pandemonium.

After the National Cash Register purchased Hawthorn Hill to use as a corporate guest house, the company renovated many of its rooms, including the kitchen. The white-painted cabinets and appliances are from the 1980s, but Dayton History plans to eventually restore the space to the way it looked when Orville Wright lived there.

Bishop Milton Wright died in his sleep in his bedroom in 1917 at the age of 88. His funeral was held at Hawthorn Hill.

The room’s vanity and the chest of drawers were the only two pieces of furniture that the Wrights brought to Hawthorn Hill from their home in West Dayton.

“That was at the urging of Katharine Wright, because she paid for both of these herself from her salary as a school teacher, and she insisted that these two pieces came to the new house,” Heckman said.

Instead, it functioned as another guest room.

Katharine Wright became a celebrity in her own right while serving as Orville Wright’s business and household manager, secretary, confidant, and plus-one at high-profile gatherings.

Her marriage caused a deep rift in her relationship with her brother, who felt that she was abandoning him. Orville Wright refused to allow the couple to wed at Hawthorn Hill, and the two remained estranged for the rest of their lives.

Katharine Wright died of pneumonia in 1929. By the time Orville Wright arrived at her deathbed, she was already unconscious. Her funeral, however, was held at Hawthorn Hill.

In 1927, Wright hosted Charles Lindbergh, the first man to fly across the Atlantic, in what was supposed to be a private visit without any public appearances. However, as word spread that “Lucky Lindy” had arrived at Hawthorn Hill, crowds gathered outside the house.

“Orville, being so shy and reserved, isn’t the kind to go outside and shake a thousand hands and send people on their way,” Heckman said.

Orville Wright, who did his best to avoid publicity and appearing in front of crowds, begged Lindbergh to do something to make his admirers disperse. Lindbergh ended up stepping out onto the balcony of Hawthorn Hill to wave to the crowd.

His bedroom still featured his original mattress and a painting of an airplane.

“When he’d wake up in the morning, one of the first things he would see would be his place in history right across from his bed,” Heckman said.

Up in the attic, I climbed a steep set of wooden stairs that led to the roof.

The elevated lookout point provided views of Dayton and nearby Oakwood estates of other local business tycoons. Orville Wright’s neighbors included Elmer Biechler, president and general manager of Frigidaire, and Joseph Green, the inventor of Cheez-It crackers.

“Our hope is that you can go to a lot of places in the Dayton area and elsewhere around the country to learn about the engineering marvel of the airplane and how the Wright brothers invented the airplane. Here, you’re walking through his home,” Heckman said. “We’re trying to express to people what he would have been like if he had been your uncle, your neighbor, your cousin, a friend.”