Maureen O’Connell, Staff Writer
The Concord Journal, July 15, 2004

When Lucille Stott, president of the Thoreau Farm Trust, first visited the aging, run down house on Virginia Road where Henry David Thoreau was born, she wasn’t expecting much.

“I didn’t think I was going to feel anything,” said Stott. “But walking into that room, believe me, I did. That’s why I’m here.”

She’s referring to the upstairs room on the eastern end of the house at 341 Virginia Road, where the author best known for “Walden” and “Civil Disobedience” was born on July 12, 1817.

One-hundred-eighty-seven years later, Stott welcomed friends, town leaders, historians and Thoreau enthusiasts to the home for the first of what she hopes will be many times. The Thoreau Farm Trust signed a purchase and sale agreement Monday with the town of Concord, for the home and 2 acres of the property, which the TFT hopes to restore and turn into an educational center for those studying Henry David Thoreau and the history of agriculture in Concord.

Farming was a part of the Virginia Road property before Thoreau was born, Stott said, and continued long after. Today, a portion of the land is still used by the organization Gaining Ground, which grows food for the hungry.

“Because Gaining Ground continues to cultivate the land, it will allow visitors to still experience a working farm,” said Stott.

The Thoreau Farm Trust will have two years to raise the $800,000 necessary for it to begin phase one of the restoration: Changing the exterior of the house to be as it appeared in 1878, when the house was moved to its present site, restoring the bedroom where Thoreau was born in 1817, and rehabilitating the home’s remaining interior for possible residential use. If the fund-raising goal is met, the house and two acres will be purchased from the town for $1.

Once phase one is completed, the TFT hopes to construct a barn on the property to serve as an education center, focusing on not only agriculture, but Thoreau’s life as a naturalist, environmentalist and author. Lastly, the TFT hopes to create an endowment to ensure continued operation of the educational center at the birth house site.

Anne Shapiro, a member of the Board of Selectmen, said Monday she and her fellow board members were “proud” of the work put into preserving the farmhouse so far.

“Many Concord citizens and others answered the needs of the property,” said Shapiro, “I’m thrilled and humbled by the efforts of our citizens.”

Stott said she first became involved with the property, also known as the Wheeler-Minot Farm, in 1996, after its last owner, James Breen Jr., died. As the editor of The Concord Journal, she learned from a neighbor that there were plans to develop the site into several single-family homes, and to tear down the Thoreau birth house.

“Gradually, citizens began coming together to advocate for the house,” said Stott. “Mrs. Breen was willing to negotiate, but the selling price wasn’t cheap.”

At that time, the Thoreau Farm Trust was able to raise $800,000 to buy the property. These funds were added to $160,000 allocated by Town Meeting to purchase the 104-acre farm and house.

Joseph Wheeler, who was the first president of the Thoreau Farm Trust, said it was his mother Ruth Wheeler’s dream to see the home restored

“She was interested in preserving this historic house, but didn’t think it was possible,” said Wheeler. “Now, I think we’ve found a formula.”

Coming from London, England, was Mark Thoreau, Henry David’s third cousin five times removed. Fresh from an interview with the BBC about his famous cousin, he called the plan to restore the home “absolutely brilliant.”