Vision

“The Little House with a

Big Story to Tell”

The Akin House, A Restoration Project From the Foundation Up

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. 

To build on its mission and purpose, the Akin House property on 762 Dartmouth Street will be repurposed and transformed into a cultural heritage center and educational facility.

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.

The Akin House is uniquely positioned to attract residents and tourists alike––scholars, educators, architects, historians, artists, researchers, and heritage visitors from all walks of life. In addition to the intrinsic value of the house as a cultural resource, the site’s prominence on Dartmouth Street, a well-traveled roadway between Dartmouth and New Bedford much as it was in the eighteenth century, offers a unique perspective of the past intermingling or co-existing with the present.  The property offers a striking reminder of our past in the midst of a busy and bustling neighborhood––in effect, a heritage site that cannot be missed.