The Wayside, Massachusetts, United States
4.5 (42 reviews) Spent Ranking #14 in Concord Historic Sites
Louisa May Alcott's inspiration for "Little Women"
It was built before the Revolutionary War like many homes and inns in the Concord area. The inhabitants saw the British troops passing on their way to battle. It was occupied and visited by many classic literary authors. It was even an Underground Railroad safe house during the time that Louisa May Alcott lived in it. Her book was about the years when her family lived in this house. It's truly a historical landmark that you must see when in Concord. We didn't get to tour the house because I believe it's by appointment only. We did get the history of it through our tour guide, so we didn't feel like we missed too much. It was nice just to see it in person.
Address
455 Lexington Rd, Concord, MA 01742-3727
Mobile
Website
http://www.nps.gov/places/the-wayside-home-of-authors-circa-1700.htm
Current local date and time now
Wednesday, May 15, 2024, 4:16
User Ratings
4.5 based on (42 reviews)
Reviews
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5Laura S 5:00 PM May 9, 2015
Authentic living from the 1700's
If you like history, you'll love the Wayside Inn. We had a storyteller, dressed in period costume, give our group the history of the tavern & inn. We then had a catered dinner upstairs during which a period Fife & Drum Core unexpectedly march in and perform a few numbers for us. It was wonderful! After dinner, we had the opportunity to tour the rooms that are fully restored to look like they did in the 1700's. Awesome!!!
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4Susanarl 5:00 PM Oct 8, 2016
You Need to Pre-Plan for This One!
If you plan to visit the homes of famous authors in Concord, it might make sense to go to The Wayside first. Unlike Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House (next door) and the Ralph Waldo Emerson House (1/2-mile down the road), The Wayside is operated by the National Park Service on a very limited schedule. It reopened in June 2016 having been closed for renovations for three years, but the only way you can see the inside of the house is on a guided tour, and there is a limit of ten tickets per tour. That means, on a day when they are open from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, only sixty people get to go inside the house. Tours are held on the hour, but with exceptions, resulting in some two-hour gaps between tours. The good news is that you can purchase a ticket for a tour later the same day. You can attempt to learn The Wayside’s current operating schedule from the Minuteman National Historical Park’s somewhat confusing website or simply call the recorded message at (978) 318-7863. If you need to talk to a live person, you can call the Park’s main number at (978) 369-6993. As of this writing, The Wayside is open from mid-June to the end of October, with reduced hours beginning the third week of August. A parking lot on Hawthorne Lane (at the intersection with Lexington Road) is convenient to both The Wayside and Orchard House. Hawthorne’s Larch Path connects the two sites through the woods (above the sidewalk on Lexington Road.)
