Hunter S. Thompson's Widow Wants to Turn His House Into a Museum

Buy the ticket, take the ride. Through Hunter Thompson's laundry room. 

That’s the kind of mystique-destroying access fans of the High Priest of Gonzo journalism will be exposed should Thompson’s widow complete her plans to turn the doctor’s home on Owl Farm in Woody Creek, Colorado, into a museum. Anita Thompson tells The Cannabist she’d initially kept the rooms exactly as they were when Thompson died but now believes that her preservation has some value as American history that should be accessible to the public. Between Thompson’s brilliant early work and Colorado’s plentiful legal weed, roasting a bone on Owl Farm would be akin to a pilgrimage to Mecca in the minds of a very specific type.

Shit, why not? This kind of thinking worked for the Hemingway Hous. Both the authors of seminal 20th century works, both victims of suicide. Though Thompson's decision to shoot himself in his kitchen back in 2005 will make that room one hell of a bummer when the tour groups wander through. Maybe put that at the end, right before the gift shop.

Tales of Owl Farm's marathon boozing sessions with actors, politicians, and writers and machine gun fire at 3 a.m. grew legendary, a valuable part of the Thompson persona. Like the Batcave to Batman. Thompson's image was so intertwined with the property his attorneys argued it was necessary for him to maintain his image and work when his long suffering first wife tried to get some land in their divorce. And its worth remembering how protective he was of the property and his privacy, leaving bullet holes and Stay Out! signs around the perimeter, making one wonder if Thompson would really want a bunch of yokels stomping around the breakfast nook where he ingested his morning ration of eggs and cocaine.