The surrounding location is also significant as the site of the last engagement between Confederate and Union forces in the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse on May 19, 1864.

The house was demolished in December 2014 by Leonard Atkins, a nearby resident who purchased the property in November 2014 ostensibly to restore it.

Atkins cited the building's supposedly poor condition and public safety as the reasons for the abrupt demolition, and he planned to replace the historic house with a new one commensurate in style and value with the modern houses in the surrounding development in which he lives.

During the time that Harris owned the farm, it produced 4,500 pounds (2,000 kg) of tobacco along with wheat, Indian corn, and oats.

This engagement, the last major action of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, ended when General Ewell's forces withdrew in the evening.

In 1901, a monument dedicated to the memory of the fallen soldiers of the 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery was erected on the site.