Thoreau and His Cabin at Walden

Fed up with the distractions of his father's pencil making business, Henry David Thoreau set out to find some peace and quiet to work on his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. Fortunately for Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson offered him free use of his woodlot along the northern shore of Walden Pond.

Thoreau began planning for his 10' by 15' house in March. The frame went up in May, and he was ready to move in on the 4th of July. The interior of the house was furnished with a bed, a table, a small desk and lamp, and three chairs -- "one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society."

While at Walden, Thoreau strove to reduce his needs and to work efficiently. "The cost of a thing" says Thoreau, "is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run." In his essay "Walden", J. Schneider notes that Thoreau's cabin is the antithesis of the fancy homes admired by many New Englanders.

Here is a picture of Thoreau's cabin. It's not much larger than my 8' by 10' shed. I hope I can make of my small shed the rich interior life that Henry David found in his small dwelling.