Orchard House
HABS MA-552
Concord, Massachusetts
Orchard House is the family home of the Alcotts. Notably, the nineteenth-century author Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women here in 1868. Literary traditions ran through the family. Alcott's father Bronson established one of the first adult summer schools in the eastern United States. His Concord School of Philosophy and Literature was held in his home.
Originally purchased as two houses, which dated back to ca. 1690-1720, the Alcott family connected the two buildings to create Orchard House. The name Orchard House came from the over thirty apple trees surrounding the building. The Alcott family lived in Orchard House from 1858 to 1877.
There have been no significant changes to the structure of the building since the nineteenth century. In its present form, Orchard House is a 2½-story frame and clapboard building. It was never painted, but allowed to weather and become a natural part of its environment.
In 1882 the Alcott family sold Orchard House. The house was occupied until in 1911 when the Concord Women's Club decided to purchase the house as a permanent memorial to Louisa May Alcott. The Louisa May Alcott Association assumed title to the property. The Association operated Orchard House as a museum. Since approximately 80 percent of the furnishings on display were owned by the Alcotts, the rooms look very much as they did when the family lived here.
The house was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1941. In 1962 the property was designated a National Historic Landmark.
