Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House...

...located in Concord, MA, is where Louisa May Alcott penned "Little Women," and what a magical place to visit! Her bedroom is on the second floor, right, front side of the house. In between the two front windows is a small, half-moon shaped desk that her father built for her, and that is where history was made. Shivers run down my spine every time I've taken the tour, standing right next to the desk where this classic was written.

(click any photos to enlarge)

In June of 1857, a then 24-year old Louisa May wrote in her journal:

"Read Charlotte Bronte's life. A very interesting, but sad one. So full of talent; and after working long, just as success, love, and happiness come, she dies. Wonder if I shall ever be famous enough for people to care to read my story and struggles. I can't be a C.B., but I may do a little something yet."

A little something? Oh my goodness! She did so much, but she is probably best known for the beloved, "Little Women," first published in 1869 (twelve years after that journal entry). As you can see, I have a small collection of Little Women books..


... as well as some other books about Louisa May Alcott's life. So let me show you a bit of Orchard House (dubbed Apple Slump by Louisa May Alcott).


Unfortunately, photos are not allowed to be taken inside the house, but I'll provide a link below where you can take a virtual tour through the house on-line. And I highly recommend taking the tour in person if you are ever in the Concord area! Don't you just love the door knocker on the front of Orchard House? (It reminds me of the door knocker that morphs into Marley's ghost in "A Christms Carol"!)

Now here is a photo that I took just a couple of weeks ago....

...and here is an 1874 photograph of the house from the exact same angle, with Mr. & Mrs. Alcott in the front yard...

A plaque by the back door of the house that now leads into the gift shop.

Flowers growing outside the study window...

This is Bronson Alcott's School of Philosophy, constructed in 1879, just behind Orchard House. (Bronson is Louisa May's father.)

You may remember that a couple of weeks ago I posted about Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, where all of the Alcotts are buried... (Here's Amanda at Louisa May Alcott's grave)..

Back in 1879, Louisa May wrote the following journal entry:

"October 8th Dear Marmee's birthday. Never forgotten. Lovely day....

(Alcott family plot)

...Go to Sleepy Hollow with flowers. Her grave is green, black berry vines with red leaves trail over it. A little white stone with her initials is at the head, & among the tall grass over her breast a little bird had made a nest....

Bird's nest on LMA's grave a couple of weeks ago

... Empty now, but a pretty symbol of the refuge that tender bosom always was for all feeble & sweet things. Her favorite asters bloomed all about, & the pines sang overhead. So she & dear Beth lie quietly asleep in God's Acre, & we remember them more tenderly with each year that brings us nearer them & home."

It was quite profound reading that journal entry after having just been at their graves a couple of weeks ago...

Right next door to Orchard House is The Wayside (you can read a bit more about it below). It was called Hillside when Louisa May Alcott lived there in her younger years, and she drew upon the many adventures she and her sisters had while living there when writing Little Women. She wrote of this house:

"I have at last got the little room I have wanted so long, and am very happy about it. It does me good to be alone, and Mother has made it very pretty and neat for me. My work-basket and desk are by the window and my closet is full of dired herbs that smell very nice."

(written by Louisa May Alcott, age 13,

in her journal, May, 1846)

Information regarding Hillside/The Wayside:

Click here to take a virtual tour of Orchard House

Click here for the official Orchard House/Louisa May Alcott website

I hope you enjoyed your visit to Orchard House!!!!

Donna

The colors of Concord...

I had expected all of my Concord posts to be up by the end of October. I'm clearly running behind schedule, so before autumn is but a distant memory, I'll share a bit more with you. Today I'll focus on Concord Center (where I picked up a couple of cute items that I'll show you at the end of this post)....

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Amanda in front of an old home in Concord center. I don't know what this tree looks like right now but, as you can see, a couple of weeks ago it was dressed in golden splendor...


There's a very old cemetery between this old colonial home and the church to the left of it...


From this angle you can see the church and the cemetery while the house peeks out from behind the trees.


There are many signs and markers to stop and read as you stroll around Concord...

Adorable shops and eateries are everywhere...


This photo was taken inside of Nesting on Main, a gorgeous shop that Cafe Chatelaine has posted about several times...

Are you in the market for a vintage conversation piece that will also light up your little cottage?

I loved everything about this window display.... the horse lamp, the raffia pumpkins, the turkey fabric covering the table....

This home is actually a bit outside of Concord Center... Tomorrow I'm going to show you where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women, and this sweet little cottage is located right across the street so I couldn't resist snapping a picture of it... Isn't it adorable?

Okay, I promised to share what I bought! Each year I decorate the small Christmas tree in our dining room window with bird ornaments, so......


...when Mr. Blue Jay heard Amanda and I talking about how great he'd look on the tree, he asked if he could please come home with us...


...and since he's kind of sweet on Ms. Bluebird (who's sporting a bit of a duck bill rather than a beak!!), he asked if she could come home with us, too... How could I say no? They'll be perfect for our bird tree, and they'll always remind me of the wonderful little day trip Amanda and I took to historic Concord, MA!

See you tomorrow when I'll show you the house where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women...

COMMENT UPDATE: Hey, hipchick! We sure did visit Authors Ridge at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery! Loved it! We'd taken the girls there years & years ago when they were in elementary school so we were due for another visit!! Here's my October 29th post about it: Sleepy Hollow

Donna

Do you believe in ghosts?

Many people believe that The Colonial Inn, located in historic Concord, Massachusetts, has visitors (not of this world) staying at the Inn and in some of its other buildings...


This beautiful old Inn is located in the heart of Concord Center.


...so when Amanda and I headed to Concord last Friday we knew the Inn would be one of our stops.


The Colonial Inn has been the subject of many articles and TV specials on ghosts (I'll provide links at the bottom of this post so you can read more if you'd like)...


You don't have to be a guest of the Inn to enjoy their lovely restaurant. While Amanda and I were visiting lunch was being served and - oh my gosh - the aromas!! We really wanted to stop and have a bite because it smelled soooooooo good! But we had a lot of ground (all over Concord) to cover in very little time so we passed, promising ourselves we'd head back to the Inn restaurant in the very near future.


I love this door knocker on the restaurant door...


All of the doors leading into the Inn are painted bright red.... they're all so striking that I photographed all of them!


A close-up of the etched glass panes...


As luck would have it Room 24, where most of the ghostly activity takes place, was empty. One of the desk clerks was kind enough to bring us upstairs. This is one of the hallways that leads to Room 24. (Ever since The Shining, long hallways in old hotels give me the shivers!!)


Unfortunately, I forgot to change my camera setting once we were inside so all of my photos were taken on the Landscape setting - therefore out of focus and the tint is off... But here is Amanda at the door leading to Room 24.


The room itself is so bright and cheery...


...and on the day we visited, nothing was out of order... The room was very quiet and peaceful. We didn't even capture a single orb (more than I can say about my own house lately, as I showed you in last week's posts!!)

So... would I stay in this room overnight? I dare say I would!! How would I react if anything out of the ordinary actually happened? Now that I don't know!!

You can click on any of these links if you'd like to know a bit more about the Inn:

1) SunCast You Tube Video: A ghost in the Inn (it's the first segment of a short show)

2) Colonial Inn website - Haunted Inn page (scroll all the way down to watch Cambell Brown of the TODAY show's segment on Room 24)

2) Forbes: Transcendental Comfort

3) Boston Globe article: Historic Inn Scares Up a Ghost Story

4) Ghostvillage Radio: Episode 61: The Colonial Inn

5) Spirit Encounters Research Team (SERT)

6) LA Times: Where Redcoats and Walden Pond Meet

7) NY Times: Journeys; 36 Hours - Concord, Mass.

Happy Halloween, everyone!!!!!

Donna

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery...

...in historic Concord, Massachusetts. A perfect place to visit on a crisp October afternoon.

(click any photos to enlarge)

(Am I the only one who sees irony in the "One Way" stone marker above?)


Come along as we head up to Authors Ridge ....


Here we are at the top of Authors Ridge, facing the Alcott family plot...


...where Amanda stopped at Louisa May Alcott's grave.


The monument marking the Alcott family plot is intricately carved...


...but the individual markers are very simple.

"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."

(Louisa May Alcott)

Here is the Thoreau family plot...


...where Henry David Thoreau's simple headstone is adorned with gifts left by visitors...

"An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day."

Henry David Thoreau

The Emerson family plot....


Ralph Waldo Emerson spoke at the dedication ceremony for Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in 1855.

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Hawthorne family plot...

...where, again, visitors have left gifts for Nathaniel Hawthorne.

"Our Creator would never have made such lovely days, and have given us the deep hearts to enjoy them, above and beyond all thought, unless we were meant to be immortal."

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Miles family plot...

And a beautiful marker for Lucy R. Davis...

SLEEPY HOLLOW by William Ellery Channing

(which he read at the Sleepy Hollow dedication ceremony in 1855)

No abbey's gloom, nor dark cathedral stoops,

No winding torches paint the midnight air;

Here the green pines delight, the aspen droops

Along the modest pathways, and those fair

Pale asters of the season spread their plumes

Around this field, fit garden for our tombs.

And shalt thou pause to hear some funeral bell

Slow stealing o'er thy heart in this calm place,

Not with a throb of pain, a feverish knell,

But in its kind and supplicating grace,

It says, Go, pilgrim, on thy march, be more

Friend to the friendless than thou wast before;

Learn from the loved one's rest serenity;

To-morrow that soft bell for thee shall sound,

And thou repose beneath the whispering tree,

One tribute more to this submissive ground;—

Prison thy soul from malice, bar out pride,

Nor these pale flowers nor this still field deride:

Rather to those ascents of being turn,

Where a ne'er-setting sun illumes the year

Eternal, and the incessant watchfires burn

Of unspent holiness and goodness clear,—

Forget man's littleness, deserve the best,

God's mercy in thy thought and life confest.

I highly recommend a visit to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery if you find yourself in the Concord area. In my next post I'll share some other photos from our little day trip to Concord, including The Colonial Inn (haunted?) and Orchard House, where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women...




Donna