It was built in 1861 for Harrison Bird Brown (1831–1915), one of Maine's best-known painters of the late 19th century, and was his home and studio until 1892.

[1] The Brown House stands on the south side of Danforth Street, near the southernmost tip of Falmouth Neck, the peninsula on which downtown Portland and its harbor facilities are located.

It is a two-story wood-frame structure, with a hip roof, bracketed deep cornice, clapboard siding, and a brick foundation.

He met with immediate success in the painting of landscapes, and he exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York City.

His painting of White Head on Cushing Island in Casco Bay, where he maintained a studio, was exhibited in the Maine pavilion at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.