Financial considerations prompted his family's return to New York City in 1863, and Melville sold the property to his brother.

The house at that time consisted of a simple rectangular structure with five window bays across and two deep, with a large central chimney.

His uncle Thomas Melvill[4] owned property in Pittsfield that the family had visited a few times when Melville was younger.

[5] After his father died in January 1832,[6] Melville's mother took the family to Pittsfield to escape an outbreak of cholera in July 1832.

[10] On August 5, 1850, Melville met Nathaniel Hawthorne for the first time, having only recently read his short story collection Mosses from an Old Manse.

The two were among several invited to a picnic on Monument Mountain south of Pittsfield with a group that also included Evert Augustus Duyckinck and Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. Melville and Hawthorne struck up an instant friendship.

[11] Attracted by the Hawthornes, and apparently unwilling to abandon the Berkshires, Melville decided on impulse to purchase the Brewster farm, which abutted his uncle's property.

[11] New York publisher Evert Augustus Duyckinck wrote that its "grounds would satisfy an English nobleman—for the noble maples and elms and various seclusions and outlooks".

Then, pay a visit to my cow—cut up a pumpkin or two for her, & stand by to see her eat it—for it's a pleasant sight to see a cow move her jaws—she does it so mildly and with such a sanctity.—My own breakfast over, I go to my work-room & light my fire—then spread my M.S.S.

[17]It was at Arrowhead that Melville finished his novel Moby-Dick; though the work was not recognized during the author's lifetime, it has since become known as one of the greatest American literary masterpieces.

These all congregate in the middle—in the one grand central chimney, upon all four sides of which are hearths—two tiers of hearths—so that when, in the various chambers, my family and guests are warming themselves of a cold winter’s night, just before retiring, then, though at the time they may not be thinking so, all their faces mutually look towards each other, yea, all their feet point to one centre; and when they go to sleep in their beds, they all sleep round one warm chimney.Melville lived, farmed, and wrote at Arrowhead for 13 years, receiving visitors including Hawthorne, Holmes, and Catharine Maria Sedgwick.

[25] Other well-known works that he wrote there include the novels Israel Potter and The Confidence-Man, and the stories "Bartleby, the Scrivener" and "Benito Cereno" (which were collected in The Piazza Tales).

[16] In order to improve the family finances, the Melvilles moved into Pittsfield in 1862, and sold Arrowhead the following year to his brother Allan.

The piazza was removed in the 20th century, but a large window was added on the north side of the house to maintain the view of Mount Greylock.