FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Nancy Grohol, Executive Director
Thoreau Farm Trust
978.369.3091
978.369.1515 (fax)
nancy@thoreaufarm.org
www.thoreaufarm.org

Thoreau Farm Trust Official New Owner of Thoreau Birthplace

November 20, 2007

Concord, MA—The Thoreau Farm Trust has achieved a major milestone toward its vision for the house where Henry David Thoreau was born in 1817. On November 20, the Town of Concord transferred ownership of the historic house to the Trust.

The town purchased the historic house, which is located at 341 Virginia Road, in 1997. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Wheeler/Minot Farmhouse-Henry David Thoreau Birthplace.

The Thoreau Farm Trust, a local nonprofit organization, signed a Purchase and Sale Agreement in 2004 to take ownership of the house and rehabilitate the property for the benefit of the community.

The Trust has been raising funds for the restoration and rehabilitation of the house, which is currently in poor condition. To date, $700,000 has been raised for the project, including a $200,000 Community Preservation Act grant approved by Concord Town Meeting last spring. The total cost of the project is expected to be $1 million.

“We are thrilled to be taking over ownership of the house, which means we can start work immediately on bringing the property back to life,” said Lucille Stott, president of the Thoreau Farm Trust. “We are grateful to the town and its staff for working with us to develop a multi-use plan for the property, which will turn it into a valuable community resource. The house will not become a museum but rather a place where community members can gather to do their work or take walks on the land, enjoy educational programs, and visit the room where Thoreau was born.”

Historic architects have conducted extensive investigations at the site and developed a master plan for the restoration/rehabilitation work. Exterior work on the house, including shoring up the original stone foundation, installing custom windows, restoring the doorway, repairing the roof, and replacing and repainting clapboards, will begin immediately.

Future plans call for the restoration of the 18th-century architectural features that remain inside the farmhouse, many of which are in the Thoreau birth room. In addition, space will be rehabilitated for rental offices for the Thoreau Society, and for community meeting and public educational space. A small addition will be added to the back of the house to allow for a handicap-accessible ramp and bathroom without impinging on the historic structure itself.

Once the project is completed, the house will have 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.

Fundraising will continue, with Robert Pinsky, three-time U.S. Poet Laureate, serving as honorary chair of the capital campaign. To find out how you can help or to arrange a tour, please visit the Trust’s website at www.thoreaufarm.org.