Ezra Pound House (Sun Valley Center for the Arts)
Hailey, Blaine County
- Grants: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2025 – Roof replacement, chimney repair, foundation repair
Location: The Ezra Pound Birthplace, 314 Second Avenue South, Hailey, Idaho 83333
The stately one-and-a-half story home was built between 1883 and 1884 by Horace Greeley Knapp to accommodate Homer Pound, who was recently appointed Register of Mines by President Chester A. Arthur. Homer and his wife welcomed their son, Ezra, into the world on October 30th, 1885 in the house itself. The home is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, which states:
“The Ezra Pound house is significant as one of the few structures in the nation associated with this internationally renowned poet. Considered, by some to be the father of modem poetry, and by others to be a difficult, avant-garde expatriate he was, in the words of Reed Whittemore, ’one of America’s strangest emanations.’
Pound, in his book Indiscretions, wrote that the Hailey experience “enriched his parents’ table talk for life,” and through them, Idaho left its mark on him.”
The Pounds moved back East in 1887 after Homer’s reappointment failed to materialize. Eventually the house was home to one of Hailey’s most beloved citizens, Roberta McKercher, until she passed away in 1996.
Since 2005, The Hailey House and Classroom has served as the Sun Valley Museum of Art’s southern hub, providing space for classes, workshops, talks, and performances in a location convenient to the growing population of southern Blaine County. This historic resource allows SVMoA to extend its reach and make arts programming more accessible to residents who might not otherwise participate in museum activities.
