The Thoreau Farm Trust has received approval to take title of the Henry David Thoreau Birth House from the Town of Concord. The town's Board of Selectmen voted unanimously on July 9 to transfer title of the property as soon as possible, expressing gratitude for the Trust's fundraising success to date and confidence in its ability to raise the rest of the money needed for the rehabilitation and re-use of the house as a community resource.

The 18th-century farmhouse, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been uninhabitable since the town purchased the property from a private owner in 1997. The Thoreau Farm Trust has been raising funds to rehabilitate the house for multi-use purposes: as a place where the public can visit the room Thoreau was born in; as a community meeting space for local groups; and as an education center focused on the history of New England agriculture and the environmental legacy of Henry Thoreau.

Robert Pinsky, former U.S. Poet Laureate, is honorary chair of the Thoreau Farm Trust's capital campaign. Thus far, nearly $700,000 has been raised, including Community Preservation Act funds approved by Concord town voters last spring. The total cost of the rehabilitation project is expected to be $1 million.

The closing is expected to take place this summer, as soon as the legal formalities are completed. The title transfer means the Trust can begin much-needed work at the site. Initial construction will focus on rehabilitating the exterior of the structure by the end of the fall-shoring up the foundation, installing custom reproduction windows, restoring the doorway, repairing the roof, and replacing and repainting clapboards.

Thoreau Farm Trust • PO Box 454 • Concord, MA 01742 • Tel. 978.369.3091 •