Born in Maine in 1804, Fanno lived in Missouri as a young adult and in 1846 moved to Oregon with his first wife, Martha, and son.

After Martha died in childbirth in Linn City in the Willamette Valley, Fanno and his son settled a 640-acre (2.6 km2) donation land claim 12 miles (19 km) to the northwest on a small tributary of the Tualatin River.

In 1859, he designed and built a rural home in the modified New England revival style popular in Oregon at the time.

The family pioneered the cultivation of onions in Oregon, and by the 1890s these became regionally recognized for their high quality.

Members of the family occupied the farmhouse until 1974, and in March 1982 they donated the house and adjacent land to the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District (THPRD).