1967. After his death, his wife decided to sell Connemara to the U.S. government to preserve the house as a memorial to her husband. The Secretary of Interior and family friend Stewart Udall visited the house in October 1967, and Mrs. Sandburg signed a deed of gift in June of the following year. On October 18, 1968, President Johnson approved a congressional act making the home a historic site. The home officially opened to the public in 1974. The National Park Service restored the house and installed Plexiglas covers over the bookcases during the time between the purchase and its opening. The site today Today Carl Sandburg Home National Historic site attracts more than 85,000 visitors a year. The national park is open everyday except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. The U.S. government has designated the goats a historic herd. About fifteen goats are kept on the farm at any given time. The interior of the home is arranged in a manner similar to how the Sandburgs maintained it during the 1950s. The Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, supported by North Carolina's congressional delegation, authorizes the expansion of the site by to protect the scenic view, create additional parking, and to establish a visitor center. The park features a writer-in-residence program started in 2010 with the support of the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara. This program offers emerging writers an opportunity to live and work at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site for three weeks during April. See also List of National Historic Landmarks in North Carolina National Register of Historic Places listings in Henderson County, North Carolina References External links National Park Service: Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site Question and Answer on Sandburg Expansion Shuler Introduces Expansion Bill CarlSandburg.net: A Research Website for Sandburg Studies Carl Sandburg Home NHS images on Open Parks Network Video of the interior and exterior of Connemara from 2016 Farm museums in North Carolina Open-air museums in North Carolina Museums in Henderson County, North Carolina History of literature National Historic Sites in North Carolina National Historic Landmarks in North Carolina Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Protected areas established in 1968 Sandburg, Carl Home National Historic Site Sandburg, Carl Protected areas of Henderson County, North Carolina Protected areas of the Appalachians Houses in Henderson County, North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Henderson