The structure is significant because it is one of the most finely crafted houses in the township and because of its association with one of the most important families in the area.

[3] Erastus married Calista Merry and moved to Michigan in 1832,[4] one of the first families to settle in Canton Township.

[6] In 1888, Ephraim and Emma Truesdell hired Charles W. Curtiss, a builder from Plymouth, Michigan, to construct this house.

[5] After Charles died in 1937, his wife rented out rooms in the house to schoolteachers and, during World War II, workers at the nearby Willow Run plant.

A hip roof section containing the double-door main entrance, is nestled in the corner created by the intersecting gabled portions of the structure.