It is now owned by the Dorchester Historical Society, which opens the house for tours two afternoons per month.

It is one of two Clapp Houses owned by the society that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Although there is no solid evidence for this possibility, the Clapp family genealogy records that such a first house was built circa 1633 by Roger Clapp, one of Dorchester's original settlers in 1630, and then rebuilt and enlarged by his descendant Lemuel Clap in 1767.

[2] On the other hand, the Historical Society also has evidence that the earlier house was built by the Ward family at the beginning of the 18th century.

The house was purchased by Historical Society in 1945, and moved several hundred yards from Willow Court to its current location in 1957.