Orchard House
Friday, March 15 at 11 am
Friday, March 15 at 11 am
After a very enjoyable and informative trip to the Concord Museum, we are back in historic Concord on March 15 to visit Orchard House, the home where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women. Our one-hour private guided tour begins at 11, with lunch following. Plenty of free parking is available in front of the house or in a large lot one short block away on Hawthorne Lane. A crosswalk enables safe passage across the road.
The cost for this trip is $11.50 per person, with a payment deadline of March 10. Make your reservation and payment here. Questions? Contact Marsha Semuels at mhsemuels@gmail.com.
Stay tuned for a trip to another famous site in Concord, the Old Manse, in early May.
On this trip, you will meet beloved Little Women characters
Bronson Alcott, the renowned Transcendental philosopher and social reformer (Mr. March)
Abigail March, one of Boston's first paid social workers (Marmee)
Louisa May Alcott (Jo) and sisters Anna Alcott Pratt (Meg), Elizabeth Sewell Alcott (Beth) and May Alcott Nieriker (Amy)
About Orchard House
In 1857, Amos Bronson Alcott purchased 12 acres of land with a manor house that had been on the property since the 1660s for $945. He then moved a small tenant farmhouse and joined it to the rear of the larger house, making many improvements over the course of the next year, as he detailed in his journals. The grounds also contained an orchard of 40 apple trees which greatly appealed to Mr. Alcott, who considered apples the most perfect food. It is not surprising, then, that he should name his home "Orchard House."
After moving more than twenty times in nearly thirty years, the Alcotts had finally found their anchoring place at Orchard House, where they lived until 1877. The house is most noted for being where Louisa May Alcott wrote and set her beloved classic, Little Women, in 1868 at a "shelf desk" her father built especially for her.
Fortunately, there have been no major structural changes to the house since the Alcotts' time, with ongoing preservation efforts adhering to the highest standards of authenticity. Since approximately 80% of the furnishings on display were owned by the Alcotts, the rooms look very much as they did when the family lived here, causing many modern-day visitors to comment that, "A visit to Orchard House is like a walk through Little Women!"
Guided tours introduce visitors to the family members themselves, the household items that held meaning to them, their individual and collective achievements and lasting impact, as well as their influence on characters in the beloved novel, Little Women.