The Wayside - 1852-1870: The Hawthorne Years

"I have been equally unsuccessful in my architectural projects;and have transformed a simple and small old farm-house into the absurdest anomaly you ever saw;but I really was not so much to blame here as the village-carpenter, who took the matter into his own hands, and produced an unimaginable sort of thing instead of what I asked for." - Nathaniel Hawthorne, January, 1864

After Hawthorne returned to Concord from Europe in 1860, he added a second story over the west wing Alcott had added and enclosed the bay porch, moved the barn to the east side of the house, and constructed the three story tower on the back of the house. He called the tower's top story his "sky parlor." Here, he worked on romances, some set at The Wayside, which were left unfinished at the time of his death on May 19, 1864.

Last updated: May 24, 2016

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174 Liberty St.

Concord, MA 01742

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978 369-6993

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