Discover & Learn

The Trustees Office, 1831

Built in 1831 with bricks made from their own kilns, the Trustees' Office is the second building on the left when approaching the Village from the south. This building features early-twentieth century porches and a porte-cochere.

To manage life's business affairs, each Shaker family within the society had two deacons, commonly known as trustees, and two deaconesses, known as office sisters, who served as the community's business leaders. Since each family operated autonomously within the larger cooperative framework, each built a separate office to house the business functions of its trustees. Generally, the trustees lived in the building, which also housed a dining room and overnight accommodations for business visitors.

The Trustees' Office served as a clearinghouse for Shaker-made products. Trustees bought and sold goods needed for operation of the village. This is where they interacted with the "world's people," who were not allowed into the rest of the village without permission.

Like Shaker dwellings, the original building was divided in half, with the sisters' quarters and the kitchen to the south and the brothers' section to the north.

This building is currently under restoration and is not open to the public.