The Jimmy Carter House is the longtime home and final resting place of

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

(1924–2024), the 39th president of the United States, and his wife

Rosalynn Carter Eleanor Rosalynn Carter ( ; ; August 18, 1927 – November 19, 2023) was an American activist and humanitarian who served as the first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981, as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. Throughout her decades of ...

(1927–2023), located at 209 Woodland Drive in

Plains, Georgia Plains is a city in Sumter County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 573. It is well-known as the home of Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, who were the 39th president and first lady of the Un ...

, United States. It is the only house that the Carters ever owned, and the family occupied it from 1961 until Jimmy Carter's death in 2024. The house was built by the Carters in 1960 and 1961, and additional work on the home occurred in 1974 and 1981, with the addition of a porch, garage, and guest apartment. The Carters knocked down a wall themselves during remodeling of the house in the 2010s. Rosalynn Carter described the work of knocking down the wall as "second-nature" due to the couple's extensive work with the charity

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a U.S. non-governmental, and tax-exempt 501(C)(3) Christian nonprofit organization which seeks to build affordable housing. The international ...

. The one-story house is set on a lot of ; it was built at a price of $10 per square foot (). The house was built to accommodate the Carters' growing family; they had three young sons, James, Donnel, and

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, incl ...

, at the time of its construction, and when new had four bedrooms. The

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

describes the house as a "modest 1960s ranch-style house". In a 2018 profile of the Carters' life in Plains for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan described the house as "dated, but homey and comfortable". A pond on the grounds was personally dug by Jimmy Carter; he used it for

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses an ultra-lightweight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is in ...

. A

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

tree on the grounds was grown from a tree on the lawn of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

that was planted by President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter are buried on the grounds of the house by a willow tree on the lawn of the property. The home is part of the

Jimmy Carter National Historical Park The Jimmy Carter National Historical Park, located in Plains, Georgia, preserves sites associated with Jimmy Carter (1924–2024), 39th president of the United States. These include his residence, boyhood farm, school, and the town railroad dep ...

but is currently not open to the public. The deed to the house has been granted to the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

(NPS) who will turn the house into a museum and open it to public tours at a time to be determined after Carter's funeral. The property was, until the death of Jimmy Carter, protected by the U.S. Secret Service. The Federal Government purchased the adjacent property at 1 Woodland Drive (referred as "Gnann House") in 1981 following the Carters' return from Washington D.C. for use by the Secret Service. The Carters were actively involved in planning the future museum; their involvement as living participants in a presidential home museum project is unique. Future tours will include the pool, tennis courts and back patio of the house; new paths and benches will be constructed. Jimmy Carter's wood shop will also be on display. The NPS plans to make the proposed museum of the house reflect the couple's use of the residence "as a place for both refuge and recreation". The garden will be managed along environmental principles to reflect Rosalynn Carter's interest in a

pollinator garden A pollinator garden is a type of garden designed with the intent of growing specific nectar and pollen-producing plants, in a way that attracts pollinating insects known as pollinators. Pollinators aid in the production of one out of every t ...

References

External links

National Park Service - Jimmy Carter National Historical Park
{{Coord, 32, 02, 08, N, 84, 24, 06, W, type:landmark_region:US-GA, display=title Houses completed in 1960 Houses in Sumter County, Georgia Jimmy Carter National Park Service areas in Georgia (U.S. state) Presidential homes in the United States Rosalynn Carter

See also

References

External links