“I have learned that even the smallest house can be a home.” – Henry David Thoreau, Walden

The “Yellow House,” or the “Thoreau-Alcott House” is a historical house built sometime in 1849 for a man named Josiah Davis, who maintained flourishing wealth before going bankrupt “after the Financial Panic of 1837” (Discover Concord MA). Henry David Thoreau was born not in this home, but in a farmhouse nearby within Concord, MA. Before living in the iconic wooden cabin at Walden Pond, Thoreau ended up living in many homes throughout his life. During his childhood, Thoreau and his family ended up moving from Concord to nearby Chelmsford, to Boston, before moving back to Concord in 1826. Upon attending and graduating from Harvard, the family continued to move houses a few more times, with Henry even staying with Ralph Waldo Emerson between 1841 and 1844. In the mid 1840’s, John Thoreau – Henry David Thoreau’s father – built “The Texas House” on the outskirts of town. Henry assisted in building the home and moved back in with his family when it was completed.

Then, in 1850, the Thoreau family sold “The Texas House” and bought the so-called “Yellow House” (called thus for its vibrant yellow colour), which still stands today at 255 Main Street, Concord, MA. Purchased for $1,450.00, this would also be where Thoreau would live out the last twelve years of his life (Meredith & “The Thoreau Alcott House”).

Before moving to this house, Thoreau’s first book “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers” was published. It only sold a few copies unfortunately and went into some debt. It is noted that Thoreau was left with hundreds of unsold copies, and “when the unsold books were returned to him in 1853, Thoreau carried them up to the attic of the ‘Yellow House’ and wrote in his journal, ‘I have now a library of nearly 900 volumes, over 700 of which I wrote myself.’” (“The Thoreau Alcott House”). Later, Thoreau also completed the last few drafts of his novel Walden within the house. Thoreau sadly died of tuberculosis on May 6, 1862, at the age of 44. Thoreau never achieved significant fame or recognition during his lifetime. Despite this, it is thanks to his sister, Sofia Thoreau, that his works and manuscripts were protected; it is also thanks to her persistence with publishers and magazines that her late brother’s works were published (Discover Concord MA). After his death, the house was occupied by another famous author in 1877 – Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women. Today, although it is seen as a historical building, it has entered the housing market and is valued at several million dollars.

From what we know of his background, the various experiences that Thoreau underwent in the different homes he lived in, especially regarding his Boston home (which first caused him to truly admire nature), all influenced how he viewed life and nature. A dominant figure of transcendentalism and naturalism, Thoreau believed in living a simple life, later driving him to build a cabin on the shores of Walden Pond. This house is significant in that his major works were produced here, and it is also where he spent his last years of life with his family.

Works Cited

Discover Concord MA. “The Homes of Henry David Thoreau.” Issuu, from Discover Concord Summer 2022by Discover Concord MA, 20 June 2022, issuu.com/discoverconcordma/docs/dc.summer22/s/16132367.

Meredith, Mark. “Yellow House.” House Histree, 2020, househistree.com/houses/yellow-house.

“The Thoreau Alcott House.” Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area, 13 Nov. 2023, freedomsway.org/place/the-thoreau-alcott-house/.

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