Longfellow National Historic Site is an outstanding example of a historic site representing the themes of arts and literature. For almost half a century (1837-1882) this was the home of one of the world’s foremost poets, scholars and educators, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow House is also significant in America’s colonial history. General George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the newly-formed Continental Army, headquartered and planned the Siege of Boston here between July, 1775 and April, 1776.

Rehabilitation of the historic gardens and grounds of Longfellow House is currently underway. After considerable research, the National Park Service and the Friends of the Longfellow House are beginning to recapture the profusion and diversity of plantings and landscape features enjoyed by the Longfellow family but diminished over time. Visitors in 2005-2006 will see a greatly enlarged Formal Garden — an exemplary design in the Colonial Revival style by Martha Brookes Hutcheson and Ellen Biddle Shipman. A spectacular pergola/arbor also stands in welcome to what is already one of the finest and most romantic public gardens in Cambridge.