Wilbur and Orville Wright lived in this home while they developed their first successful powered airplane. Family life in this home deeply shaped the Wright brothers' character, values, and ability to achieve their dream. Their mother, Susan, encouraged her sons to work with tools and machines. Their father, Bishop Milton Wright, encouraged the boys and their younger sister, Katharine, to be intellectually curious. The Wright family loved to learn, owned a broad range of books, and enjoyed spirited discussions and debates. The Wright brothers' interest in flight began as children, inspired by a toy "helicopter" given to them by their father—a stick with blades attached that, when set spinning by a rubber band, would lift itself into the air. The home was built in 1870 in Dayton, Ohio, and modified about 1900.