The two-story, fourteen-room cabin, which was built in 1914, is located at Sylvan Lake near Rome City in Noble County, Indiana.

Stratton-Porter lived full-time in the cabin from 1914 through 1919, then relocated to homes in California, where she continued to write and founded a movie studio.

Scenes for a moving picture adaptation of Stratton-Porter's book, The Harvester (1911), were filmed on location at Wildflower Woods in 1927.

She initially purchased a small home on the north side of Sylvan Lake near Rome City in Noble County, Indiana, about 85 miles (137 km) from her cabin in Geneva.

With the wealth she had attained from her successful writing career, Stratton-Porter used profits from her books to purchase wooded property overlooking the lake.

She also worked with Frank Wallace, a tree surgeon who later became Indiana's state entomologist, to develop the grounds of her estate into a private wildlife sanctuary.

Stratton-Porter was involved in planting about 90 percent of the more than 14,000 trees, wildflowers, vines, and shrubs on her property, including vegetable and flower gardens and an orchard behind the house.

[11][12] The natural setting along the lake provided her with the privacy she desired, at least initially; however, her continued success as an author brought unwanted visitors and trespassers to her woodland retreat.

In 1946 the association donated 13 acres (5.3 hectares) of property to the State of Indiana, including the cabin, its formal gardens, orchard, and a pond.

[9][20][21] The Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites maintains and operates the Sylvan Lake property, which includes a visitor center, Stratton-Porter's cabin, and grounds.

The grounds are open daily from dawn until dusk; guided tours of the first floor of the fourteen-room home are available for a small admission charge.

The property eventually included about 150 acres (61 hectares) of land and featured a formal flower garden, orchards, and a small pond.