About Us

The 1780 House is an art gallery located in historic Concord, MA. Named after the year it was originally built, over the nearly 250 years it has served as both a private residence and retail store. It was the home to notable residents like Henry David Thoreau’s family and John Keyes. For many years, it was The Country Store and filled with penny candy, which is in the childhood memories of many. These nostalgic memories include those of the current owner, who used to go there after trips to Walden Pond with her father (who was her actual high-school American Literature teacher.)

Owned by a Concord couple with four children and a shared passion for architecture, design, and restoring old homes, the 1780 House has undergone a three-year long renovation to fully strengthen and restore the building from the bottom up. Every inch of the building has been intentionally designed by the owners themselves to reclaim as much original charm and history as possible, while also creating an even more beautiful and thoughtful creative space.

The 1780 House will be open to the public as an art gallery and store, available for private event rentals, and also used privately by the owner as a creative studio space. It will also feature candy once again.

We look forward to welcoming you.

“The intent of 1780 House is to have more than just a gallery, but a living, breathing space where people come in and out, dinner parties and interesting conversations happen, wood burning fires roar, childhood nostalgia runs again, music fills the halls, and where community, creativity, and the arts thrive.”

— 1780 House Founders

Our Areas of Focus

“This is the place where my old trader kept.”

— Henry David Thoreau, referring to modern day 1780 House

The History

  • 1780

    Elnathan Jones built the bones of the 1780 House at 140 Main Street in Concord, MA, which is the current site of Concord Academy. He built it as a wing adjacent to this house, portion of which would serve as his store and center for business.

  • 1793

    Moved to 22 Monument Street (current location of the Town House). The mix of home and mercantile use continued when John Thoreau ran a shop downstairs and lived upstairs with his family.

  • 1850

    Moved to its current location at 15 Monument Street. Occupied by Judge John Keyes, a Concord Academy graduate. Prior to the Civil War one of his duties included the protection of Abraham Lincoln at his inauguration and his Gettysburg Address.

  • 1941

    F.H. Trumbull Country Store is opened. For decades, this serves as a retail store as well as a penny candy store, which lives on in the childhood memories of so many.

  • 1987

    Becomes The Nature Company

  • 1996

    Becomes The Cottage, a furniture store.

  • 2019 - 2022

    Purchased by current owners with plans to create an art gallery and space for creativity and the arts.

    Undergoes complete renovation by Carlisle-based Adams & Beasley to restore its structural integrity, while preserving its historical integrity, and significance to the Town of Concord.

  • Today

    In 2022, the 1780 House opens as an art gallery and space for creativity and the arts. After two centuries of history in the town of Concord, a new chapter in this building begins.