Abolitionist and author Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) is from Connecticut, but her husband, Calvin Stowe, grew up in this house in Natick, Mass.

Built in 1816 by Dr. Alexander Thayer, the house is now dubbed the Harriet Beecher Stowe house, as she and her husband regularly visited his childhood home. In fact, her book “Old Town Folks” includes memories of her husband growing up in South Natick, with its characters and locations based on its people and places.

Author of 30 books, several memoirs and numerous articles, she wrote some of her novels in the upstairs room on the left. (Beecher Stowe’s most famous work, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, described the horrifying conditions enslaved Blacks endured in America.)

Later residents include two doctors, whose offices were also on site; Thayer’s brother, who was a U.S. Consul in Italy; and a music critic who wrote a biography about Beethoven.

Recently, it was a law offices, and since 2014, it has been home to the private St. Benedict Elementary School.