LMGI COMPASS
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Winter 2020
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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 20 times in nearly 30 years, the Alcotts
had fi nally 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 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 ad-
hering to the highest standards of authenticity. 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,
causing many modern-day visitors to comment that "A visit to Or-
chard House is like a walk through Little Women!"
https://louisamayalcott.org/about
ORCHARD HOUSE
Boston and Concord scenes, all in the 1860s. We went through
architectural styles and areas where these kinds of buildings still
existed, and that helped craft the look of the fi lm."
THE ALCOTTS' REAL HOME
Orchard House, the Alcott family home in Concord, was an im-
portant reference for Dresser and his team. The building is now a
museum, and the location team spent time inside walking in the
footsteps of this famous family.
"One of the really interesting things about the state of Mas-
sachusetts is that they've done a great job of preserving 18th-
and 19th-century buildings," Merims says. "We knit together the
world of Greta Gerwig's Little Women by going to a lot of those
places. Many had never had fi lming and were anxious, so we
made them feel comfortable."
"Orchard House was a great partner," Dresser says, "especially
Jan Turnquist, who was a terrifi c resource for us on the family, the
style, architecture and set dressing. Over and over, we returned to
her for insight and advice. She's the one in charge of that house.
She runs it. She has dedicated her life to preserving the memory
of this book and the writer's family. Bronson Alcott, Louisa's fa-
ther, was a famous person in his own right. The house itself was
The Crane Estate doubling
for a Paris garden.
