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While Nina Simone’s legacy echoes through her music, the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund is preserving the physical space that helped shape the iconic singer’s life and artistry—her childhood home.
Last month, the Action Fund, a division of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, announced the completed restoration of Simone’s childhood home in Tryon, North Carolina.
“Preservation is an expression of what we choose to honor, and Nina Simone’s childhood home is an essential landmark in our nation’s artistic and cultural landscape,” said Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and strategic advisor to the CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “Restoring her home affirms her rightful place in the American story—one defined by brilliance, resilience, and the power of art to shape our collective conscience.”
Built in the early 1900s, the three-bedroom, 650-square-foot home is where Simone lived with her mother, father, and eight siblings between 1933 and 1937. Long abandoned and at risk of demolition, the property was saved in 2016 when a collective of Black artists, including Rashid Johnson, Adam Pendleton, Ellen Gallagher, and Julie Mehretu, purchased the home.
“Physical spaces carry memory in a way that transcends words. Nina Simone’s Childhood Home isn’t just a structure; it’s a vessel of her spirit, her struggle, and her genius,” Johnson said in a press release. “Preserving it gives us a place to return to. It reminds us that creativity, resistance, and beauty are born somewhere real—in rooms, on porches, in the intimacy of lived experience.”
A year later, the Action Fund partnered with Simone’s brother, Dr. Samuel Waymon, along with local community and philanthropic partners, to continue the preservation process. In 2023, tennis champion and philanthropist Venus Williams and Pendleton co-curated a gala and auction that raised funds to support the home’s renovation and restoration.
“I’m so proud to be part of this project honoring Nina Simone, whose legacy embodies strength, artistry, and the power of speaking truth,” Williams shared. “I’m able to pursue my passions and live my dreams because of the barriers she broke and the paths she paved. Preserving her home ensures that the stories of women who shaped our culture continue to inspire generations to come.”
Throughout the restoration, the Action Fund made a deliberate effort to retain the home’s original character. Portions of the original wood walls were preserved, along with the nearly century-old magnolia tree that still stands in the front yard. Rather than transforming the house into a traditional museum, the organization prioritized creating an intimate space, one where visitors can physically engage with the environment Simone once knew.
“Black history is the backbone of American history. The restoration and preservation of Nina’s birthplace is Black American history—of which I, too, am a part,” said Dr. Waymon. “As the youngest Waymon child, this home holds extraordinary memories of Nina, our parents, and my siblings. Preserving it safeguards the piano lessons, the joy, the discipline, and the discovery of her gifted talent, all recorded in those walls. It’s an honor to share this with the world, as she would have wanted.”
While the home is not yet open to the public, the Action Fund anticipates welcoming visitors in 2027 following the completion of the next phase of its restoration and preservation plans.
