Built in 1914, it was from 1937 to 1940 the home of Frances Perkins (1880-1965), the first woman to serve in the United States Cabinet.

Perkins was the Secretary of Labor under president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and was a major force in advancing his New Deal agenda.

Second-floor windows are set in rounded-arch openings, while the mansarded third floor has dormers with gabled and segmented-arch pediments.

The interior of the Perkins House retains high quality woodwork, particularly in the main parlor.

In addition to temporary measures such as the Public Works Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps, she also helped draft legislation creating Social Security.