Growing up, my family vacations were often extended road trips and while we did the requisite Disney World visit, one of the places we drove to year after year was Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. Colonial Williamsburg was an oasis of living history, my parents loved what it offered and were excited to bring it alive for me. But what distinguishes Historic Concord, Massachusetts from this kind of Colonial period recreation, is that fact that the history is among the living in every way.

The Concord Center home featured above is typical of many of the homes that exist in the Center, both in its presentation and in the fact that it is inhabited by a 21st century family. These homes are all carefully preserved, updates are often well camouflaged and there are strict guidelines applied to their front facades. Some of these residences have provided shelter to an unbroken line of dwellers over a two or three hundred year time-span. Concord is a blend of old and new side by side, or on occasion, in the same physical space. One is not sacrificed for the other, they are irrevocably tied to one another. It is what, in many ways, defines Concord, Massachusetts.