With antique houses and barns around almost every bend in scenic Concord, there’s an obvious and visible commitment by the surrounding community to preserve and protect its most valuable cultural and historical assets. Neighborhoods throughout town are peppered with major sites in literary, military and educational history; roads are lined with former homes of noted writers, judges, and abolitionists, and it is the birthplace of the Transcendentalism movement.

50 Monument Street, built in 1820 and otherwise known as the “Bartlett-Emerson House,” epitomizes classic Colonial architectural forms of the period. A sloped, 3/4-acre lot is positioned in the heart of the Monument Square Historic District, just a few doors down from the well-known 1700’s Colonial Inn where Henry David Thoreau resided during his time at Harvard. The property shares its east boundary with the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Ellery Channing and Daniel Chester French, among other greats of their time, are buried.  To say there is an existing sense of place on this land is an understatement.

Upon the conversion of a two-family back to a single-family home and completion of a dramatic whole-house restoration, the new owners desired a landscape that would complement the historic structures, and blend their modern lifestyle seamlessly to the context of the site. With a careful eye towards preserving existing mature canopy trees, a thoughtful new masterplan choreographs circulation throughout the site.

Along Monument Street, a tailored and crisp aesthetic highlights the home’s sincere form. A simple bluestone walkway connects the home and public sidewalk through a new garden gate, and structured boxwood hedges create scale and year-round visual interest.  Reclaimed granite steppingstones in lawn lead to a gravel auto court softened by viburnum, itea, hayscented fern and fragrant sumac. A single granite hitching post marks the driveway entrance, beckoning a subtle connection to the past when visitors would have tied their horses for the duration of a short stay.

Passing through the covered porch and into the garden is a memorable experience—a richly-textured antique brick dining terrace is nestled beneath fieldstone walls and a terraced landform is revealed. To the south there is an especially well-preserved multi-century-old barn, offering a quiet but dramatic glimpse back in time. Masses of hydrangea, boxwood, liriope, geranium and fern create a gorgeous summertime atmosphere, where the family dines and rejuvenates on a daily basis. A stone stair connects the main outdoor living area to an upper activity lawn where kids and dogs can run freely. A preserved sugar maple creates a leafy green ceiling to the yard, and privacy is enhanced by masses of birch, holly and inkberry.

With the garden complete, a strong sense of stewardship is embraced and the property is protected for future generations.

Collaborators: Carpenter MacNeille Architects and Builders, Martin Lucyk Landscape Construction, Stone Curators, Tree Specialists