Orchard House is a historic house museum in
ConcordConcord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2000 Census, the town population was about 17,000. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature...
,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
. It was the longtime home of
Amos Bronson AlcottAmos Bronson Alcott was an American teacher, writer and philosopher who left a legacy of forward-thinking social ideas and whose status as a well-publicized figure from the 1830s to the 1880s stemmed from his founding of two short-lived projects, an unconventional school and an utopian community...
and family, including his daughter
Louisa May AlcottLouisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women, written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts and published in 1868...
who wrote and set her beloved novel
Little WomenLittle Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott . Written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts, it was published in two parts in 1868 and 1869...
there.
The Alcotts had first moved to Concord in 1840, although they left in 1843 to start
FruitlandsFruitlands was a Utopian agrarian commune established in Harvard, Massachusetts by Amos Bronson Alcott and Charles Lane in the 1840s, based on Transcendentalist principles...
, a
utopiaUtopia is a name for an ideal community or society, that is taken from Of the Best State of a Republic, and of the New Island Utopia, a book written in 1516 by Sir Thomas More describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean, possessing a seemingly perfect socio-politico-legal system...
n
agrarianAn agrarian society is one that is based on agriculture as its prime means for support and sustenance. The society acknowledges other means of livelihood and work habits but stresses on agriculture and farming, and was the main form of socio-economic organization for most of recorded human...
communeA commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become important for many communes...
in nearby
HarvardHarvard is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. A farming community settled in 1658 and incorporated in 1732, it has been home to several non-traditional communities, such as Harvard Shaker Village and the utopian Transcendentalist center Fruitlands...
. The family returned in 1845 and purchased a house named "Hillside", but left again in 1852, selling to
Nathaniel HawthorneNathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hathorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and Elizabeth Clarke Manning Hathorne...
who renamed it
The WaysideThe Wayside is a house with notable literary associations in Concord, Massachusetts. It is now a part of the Minute Man National Historical Park and managed by the National Park Service.-History:The first record of the Wayside property occurs in 1717...
.
The Alcotts returned to Concord once again in 1857 and bought another property in May 1858.
Orchard House is a historic house museum in
ConcordConcord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2000 Census, the town population was about 17,000. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature...
,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
. It was the longtime home of
Amos Bronson AlcottAmos Bronson Alcott was an American teacher, writer and philosopher who left a legacy of forward-thinking social ideas and whose status as a well-publicized figure from the 1830s to the 1880s stemmed from his founding of two short-lived projects, an unconventional school and an utopian community...
and family, including his daughter
Louisa May AlcottLouisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women, written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts and published in 1868...
who wrote and set her beloved novel
Little WomenLittle Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott . Written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts, it was published in two parts in 1868 and 1869...
there.
History
The Alcotts had first moved to Concord in 1840, although they left in 1843 to start
FruitlandsFruitlands was a Utopian agrarian commune established in Harvard, Massachusetts by Amos Bronson Alcott and Charles Lane in the 1840s, based on Transcendentalist principles...
, a
utopiaUtopia is a name for an ideal community or society, that is taken from Of the Best State of a Republic, and of the New Island Utopia, a book written in 1516 by Sir Thomas More describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean, possessing a seemingly perfect socio-politico-legal system...
n
agrarianAn agrarian society is one that is based on agriculture as its prime means for support and sustenance. The society acknowledges other means of livelihood and work habits but stresses on agriculture and farming, and was the main form of socio-economic organization for most of recorded human...
communeA commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become important for many communes...
in nearby
HarvardHarvard is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. A farming community settled in 1658 and incorporated in 1732, it has been home to several non-traditional communities, such as Harvard Shaker Village and the utopian Transcendentalist center Fruitlands...
. The family returned in 1845 and purchased a house named "Hillside", but left again in 1852, selling to
Nathaniel HawthorneNathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hathorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and Elizabeth Clarke Manning Hathorne...
who renamed it
The WaysideThe Wayside is a house with notable literary associations in Concord, Massachusetts. It is now a part of the Minute Man National Historical Park and managed by the National Park Service.-History:The first record of the Wayside property occurs in 1717...
.
The Alcotts returned to Concord once again in 1857 and bought another property in May 1858. At the time of purchase the site included two early eighteenth century houses on a 12 acre (49,000m
2) apple orchard. Consequently the Alcotts named it Orchard House. Amos Bronson moved the smaller house to adjoin the rear of the main house, making a single larger structure.
The Orchard House is on the historical road to
LexingtonLexington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 30,355 at the 2000 census.The town is famous for being the site of the opening shots of the American Revolution, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775....
, is adjacent to The Wayside, and less than half a mile from
BushThe Ralph Waldo Emerson House is a house museum located at 28 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord, Massachusetts, and a National Historic Landmark for its associations with American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson...
the home of
Ralph Waldo EmersonRalph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, philosopher, and poet, best remembered for leading the Transcendentalist movement of the early 19th century. His teachings directly influenced the growing New Thought movement of the mid 1800s...
, where
Henry David ThoreauHenry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist...
and the Alcotts were frequent visitors.
The Alcotts in residence
The Orchard House was the Alcott family's most permanent home, with the family living there from 1858 to 1877. During this period the Alcott family included
Amos BronsonAmos Bronson Alcott was an American teacher, writer and philosopher who left a legacy of forward-thinking social ideas and whose status as a well-publicized figure from the 1830s to the 1880s stemmed from his founding of two short-lived projects, an unconventional school and an utopian community...
, his wife
Abigail MayAbigail Alcott was the wife of Transcendentalist Amos Bronson Alcott and mother of four daughters, including Civil War novelist Louisa May Alcott...
, and their daughters
AnnaAnna Bronson Alcott Pratt was the elder sister of American novelist Louisa May Alcott. She was the basis for the character Margaret "Meg" of Little Women , her sister's classic, semi-autobiographical novel...
,
LouisaLouisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women, written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts and published in 1868...
, and
May May Alcott Nieriker was an American artist and the youngest sister of Louisa May Alcott. She was the basis for the character Amy in her sister's semi-autobiographical novel Little Women...
.
ElizabethElizabeth Sewall Alcott is best known as the model for Beth March in Little Women penned by her famous sister Louisa May Alcott...
, the model for Beth March, had died in March 1858 just weeks before the family moved in.
The Alcotts were
vegetariansVegetarianism is the practice of following a diet based on plant-based foods including fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, nuts, and seeds, with or without dairy products and eggs. Vegetarians do not eat meat, game, poultry, fish, crustacea, shellfish, or products of animal slaughter such as...
and harvested fruits and vegetables from the gardens and orchard on the property. Conversations about
abolitionismAbolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe and the Americas. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical...
,
women's suffrageWomen's suffrage is the right of women to vote, and historically includes the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending suffrage to women. The movement's modern origins lie in France in the 18th century. Of currently existing independent countries, New Zealand was the first to give...
and social reform were often held around the dining room table. The family performed
theatricalsTheatricals is a book of two plays by Henry James published in 1894. The plays, Tenants and Disengaged, had failed to be produced, so James put them out in book form with a rueful preface about his inability to get the plays onto the stage....
using the dining room as their stage while guests watched from the adjoining parlor.
The parlor was a formal room with arched niches built by Amos Bronson to display
bustsA bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
of his favorite philosophers,
Socrates Socrates was a Classical Greek philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known only through the classical accounts of his students...
and
PlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world...
. On May 23, 1860, Anna married to John Bridge Pratt in this room.
May, the youngest, was a talented
artistThe definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. the worlds best artist is a man named mitchell peter lay who is often loved by the ladies. The common useage in both everyday speech and...
. Her bedroom contains sketches of
angelicThe term Angelic may refer to:*Angel, a supernatural being*Angelic acid, an organic compound*Angelic, a UK dance band featuring Darren Tate, Judge Jules and Jules's wife, Amanda O'Riordan....
, mythological and biblical figures on the woodwork and doors. In Louisa's room May painted a
panelA panel painting is a painting on a panel made of wood, either a single piece, or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, it was the normal form of support for a painting not on a wall or on vellum, which was used for...
of
calla liliesZantedeschia aethiopica is a species in the family Araceae, native to southern Africa in Lesotho, South Africa, and Swaziland...
as well as an owl on the fireplace. Copies of
TurnerJoseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker, whose style is said to have laid the foundation for Impressionism. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting...
seascapeA seascape is a photograph, painting, or other work of art which depicts the sea.Recent seminal use of this word in the UK: A combination of adjacent land, coastline and sea within an area, defined by a mix of land-sea inter-visibility and coastal landscape character assessment, with major...
s by May hung in her parent's bedroom.
In
1868The year 1868 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*First edition of the World Almanac is published.*Emile Zola defends his criticized first novel against charges of pornography and corruption of morals....
, Louisa May wrote her classic novel
Little WomenLittle Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott . Written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts, it was published in two parts in 1868 and 1869...
in her room on a special folding "shelf" desk built by her father. Set within the house its characters are based on members of her family, with the plot loosely based on the family's earlier years, and events that transpired at The Wayside. Also written in the house were Amos Bronson's
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1865; published 1882),
Tablets (1868),
Concord Days (1872), and
Table Talk (1877).
On the grounds, to the west of the house, is a structure designed and built by Amos Bronson originally known as "The Hillside Chapel", and later as "
The Concord School of PhilosophyThe Concord School of Philosophy was a lyceum-like series of summer lectures and discussions of philosophy in Concord, Massachusetts from 1879 to 1888. It was founded by Amos Bronson Alcott with the financial support of William Torrey Harris and of his daughter Louisa May Alcott; Franklin Benjamin...
". Operating from 1879 to 1888 the school was one of the first, and one of the most successful,
adult educationAdult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. This often happens in the workplace, through 'extension' or 'continuing education' courses at secondary schools, at a college or university. Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning...
centers in the country.
The Orchard House today
Orchard House is open for public tours daily, except for major holidays and between January 1
st & 15
th. An admission fee is charged.
The exterior looks much as it did in the Alcotts' day. Care has been taken to keep extensive structural preservation work invisible. All of the furnishings are original to the mid-nineteenth century, about 75% belonged to the family, and the rooms look very much as they did when the Alcotts were in residence.
The dining room contains family china, portraits of the family members, and paintings by May along with period furnishings. The parlor is decorated with period
wallpaperWallpaper is a kind of material used to cover and decorate the interior walls of homes, offices, and other buildings; it is one aspect of interior decoration. They are usually sold in rolls and are put onto a wall using wallpaper paste...
and a patterned reproduction carpet while family portraits and watercolors by May adorn the walls. Abigail May's bread board,
mortar and pestleA mortar and pestle is a tool used to crush, grind, and mix substances. The pestle is a heavy bat shaped stick whose end is used for pounding and grinding, and the mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, marble, clay, or stone...
, tin spice chest and wooden bowls are displayed on the
hutchA hutch is a type of furniture that usually consists of a set of shelves or cabinets placed on top of a lower unit with a counter and either drawers or cabinets. Hutches are often seen in the form of desks, dining room or kitchen furniture...
table in the kitchen. Other original kitchen features include a laundry drying rack designed by Amos Bronson, and a
soapstoneSoapstone is a metamorphic rock, a talc-schist. It is largely composed of the mineral talc and is rich in magnesium. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occurs in the areas where tectonic plates are subducted, changing rocks by heat and pressure, with influx of...
sink bought by Louisa. The study is furnished with Amos Bronson's library table, chair and desk. The parent's bedroom contains many of Abigail May's possessions, including photographs, furniture, and hand made quilts.
The Orchard House has continued the tradition of The Concord School of Philosophy by hosting "The Summer Conversational Series" since 1977, and has recently added a "Teacher Institute" component. The Hillside Chapel is also used for youth programs, poetry readings,
historical reenactmentHistorical reenactment is a type of roleplay in which participants attempt to recreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...
s, and other special events.
See also