# Historic House in the Novel/Movie “Little Women”

- Link: https://www.oldhouseguy.com/little-women/
- Published: 2019-12-13T14:15:59-05:00
- Author: Ken Roginski

**_Little Women_** is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), 
which was originally published in 1868.

Following the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy—the novel details
their passage from childhood to womanhood and is loosely based on the author and
her three sisters.

Since 1917, the book has been adapted for film seven times. The most popular and
also very traditional movie to watch around Christmas is the 1933 version.

In December 2019 a new version will be premiering marking the 150^(th) anniversary
of “Little Women”.

[⌊orchard house⌉⌊orchard house⌉[

The Alcottts at Orchard House in 1865.

[⌊little women house⌉⌊little women house⌉[

The Orchard House today [photo-Maria Valeria Zelayka Diaz]

The story takes place in The Orchard House in Concord Massachusetts.

The Orchard House as named by the family, was purchased by Louisa May Alcott’s father,
Bronson Alcott, in 1857. Prior to moving here, the Alcotts had already moved twenty-
three times in the prior twenty years. This is the house the Alcotts called home
until 1877.

The house was a two-story clapboard farmhouse that had two rooms on the first floor
and two rooms on the second floor. It was built sometime between 1690 – 1720. The
house and its outbuildings were on 12 acres of land surrounded by orchard apple 
trees, giving the home its name.

Bronson Alcott made significant changes to the building. He installed alcoves for
busts retrieved from his failed school, repaired the staircase, installed bookcases,
constructed a back studio for his youngest daughter May’s artwork, and installed
a rustic fence around the property. He also moved a smaller tenant house to adjoin
the rear of the main house, making a single larger structure. While the home was
being renovated, the family rented rooms next door at The Wayside while the Hawthornes
were living in England

The family moved into the house during the spring of 1858.

The family of vegetarians were very poor and had straw mats on floors. It wasn’t
until 1868, after the publishing of “Little Women” which brought in a lot of money
that the family was able to live more comfortably.

The Alcott family lived there for 20 years. Nobody could have imagined the prominence
their home would gain in American literature.

There have been no significant changes to the structure of the building since the
nineteenth century. In its present form, Orchard House is a 2½-story frame and clapboard
building. It was never painted, but allowed to weather and become a natural part
of its environment. Today it appears to be painted gray. I’m surprised at the absence
of shutters.

In 1882 the Alcott family sold Orchard House. The house was occupied until in 1911
when the Concord Women’s Club decided to purchase the house as a permanent memorial
to Louisa May Alcott. The Louisa May Alcott Association assumed title to the property.
The Association operated Orchard House as a museum. 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.

The house was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1941. In 1962
the property was designated a National Historic Landmark. [National Park Service]

[⌊Louisa May Alcott 1870⌉⌊Louisa May Alcott 1870⌉[

Louisa May Alcott c. 1870 About 40 years old.

**In the above video Louisa May Alcott (reinactor) tells her story of growing up
in Orchard House. **_Click “watch this video on YouTube.”_

Here is another video of the Executive director of Orchard House tells about the
life of the real family behind Little Women._ You may need to_ c_lick “watch this
video on YouTube.”_

## Little Women in Film

 * The first feature film was a British silent film in 1917. An American silent 
   film came out in 1918. Both silent versions are lost.
 * In 1933 the most famous version starred Katherine Hepburn became a huge hit.
   
   [See the 1933 trailer of Little Women. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68NFmQf5d4c)
 * In 1949 June Allyson stared in Little Women in Technicolor. (Don’t know why the
   trailer is in B&W) [See the 1949 trailer of Little Women. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k7WUCIr16g)
 * In 1994 Winona Ryder was the star.
    [See the 1994 trailer of Little Women ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKqi9edJVQY).
   See more scenes from inside the house from “Hooked on Houses” [here. ](https://hookedonhouses.net/2011/12/26/louisa-may-alcotts-orchard-house-in-little-women/)
 * Now in 2019 a brand film will star Saoirse Ronan.
    [See the 2019 trailer of Little Women ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AST2-4db4ic).
 * Did you know that Little Women was a mini-series in 1978 and an opera in 1998
   and many other interesting features? Here is a very good article about every 
   time Little Women was featured from the beginning.
    [Read more. ](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/little-women-adaptations/)