This small brick-veneered building was built in 1848 to house the Church Family offices. In the 1930s a later owner added the brick-veneered gable-roofed wing and linking ell. The windows have granite lintels and sills.

Brick factories in Harvard in the 1840s may have supplied the source of this durable and fireproof building material. Mike Volmar, in his book Harvard, credits Augustus Grosvenor with first using brick to construct a new building. A Brothers’ Shop in the South Family and the Rural Home in the North Family were also constructed with brick. The Shakers owned a stone quarry on Snake Hill in Groton, but the source of the stone in this house isn’t known.

The Harvard and Shirley ministry spent about half of each month here, using the building as a residence and workplace. The fine cabinetry and recessed shutters in the current living room show the Shaker design and attention to detail.

The barn behind is part of a former Shaker stable and carriage shed.

“Snow very deep but we manage to go to the Wash house going to our knees in snow Emma getting stuck by the Ministrys Shop Elder John came to her rescue…”
                        —1873 Shaker journal entry