Known as both the Wayside and “Hillside”, this historic house was home to several great literary figures, with two of the most prominent being Louisa May Alcott (Little Women) and Margaret Sideny (Five Little Peppers). The childhood home of Alcott, it’s the setting for several iconic scenes in Little Women, as well as events not featured in the book, such as the time the family harbored a fugitive slave. Years later, it was purchased by the Lothrop family. Harriett Lothrop (pen name Margaret Sidney) was not only an author, but a preservationist, founder of the Children of the American Revolution, and also ran her husband’s publishing company after his death.
