Akin House

“The Little House with a

Big Story to Tell”

A Restoration Project From the Foundation Up

Vision 

The 1762 Elihu Akin House is DHPT’s most important project, and the centerpiece of this organization.  This property has been long envisioned to become a regional Cultural Heritage Center and Educational Facility, which would be the first of its kind in Dartmouth. 

Building on DHPT’s mission and purpose, this pre-Georgian cape style structure––modest in stature and older than the Declaration of Independence––will be transformed into a “Study House” and working classroom. The property will serve as the focal point for the Cultural Heritage Center as a public space for hands-on learning and educational programming.

Elihu Akin House Cultural Heritage Center will be a destination for visitors in its own right and serve as a tourist information center, a resource Dartmouth needs but does not offer today.

Note:  It was the late Anne W. “Pete” Baker who coined the phrase “The little house with a big story to tell”.  Pete was a well-known and much sought after architectural consultant of early houses in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts.  She was hired as a consultant by the Waterfront Historic Area League on this project prior to the takeover by DHPT. Pete is the author of Collecting Houses, 17th Century Houses – 20th Century Adventure, Xlibris, 2003.