Cost of Thoreau’s Walden House In Today’s Terms

As he reported in Walden, Thoreau’s house cost him about $28.13. What is that in today’s terms?

The folks at Shelter Seeker calculated the cost a little differently, and came up with a figure of about $2,800. They said:

Materials for Henry David Thoreau’s Cabin (From his notebook)

In brackets I have given a (very) approximate conversion into today’s money. Considering a day’s wages was approximately $1 in 1845, a rough sense of the costs involved can be gained by multiplying each figure an average day’s wages today. For ease I have done so by about 100.

Boards: $8.04 “mostly shanty boards” ($800)

Refuse shingles for roof and sides: $4.00 ($400)

Laths (strips of wood for plaster to adhere to): $1.25 ($125)

Two second-hand windows with glass: $2.43 ($243)

One thousand old bricks: $4.00 ($400)

Two casts of lime: $2.40. ($240) “That was high. ” (A “cast” is an old measurement, lime being “cast” out from a mold.)

Hair: $0.31. “More than I needed” ($30 of hair is more than we need today, too!)

Mantle-tree iron (Iron for the Fireplace?): $0.15 ($15)

Nails: $3.90 ($390)

Hinges and screws: $0.14 ($14)

Latch: $0.10 ($10)

Chalk: $0.01 ($1)

Transportation: $1.40. “I carried a good part on my back.” ($140)

In all: $28.13 ($2,800) We can assume the whole project cost somewhere between $1,500 and $3,000 – cheap in anyone’s books!