William Faulkner purchased what was then known as The Bailey Place in 1930. A year later he renamed the property Rowan Oak after the rowan tree of Scotland to symbolize security and peace, and for the live oak of America to symbolize strength and solitude. Neither tree has ever been on the property and there is no such tree as a “rowan oak”. Faulkner’s years spent at Rowan Oak were productive, as he set stories and novels to paper, ultimately winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949 and the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award in 1954 for A Fable. William Faulkner remains one of the most celebrated and studied authors in the world, with conferences, societies, and journals dedicated to his life and work.