It was built in Nininger, Minnesota, in the early 1850s and moved to Hastings in 1857 by then-owner Thomas Reed.

[2][3] The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its local significance in architecture as an exemplary specimen of an Italian Villa-style house with a cupola.

[2] It is an example of the "Country Homes" style of Andrew Jackson Downing, a pioneer in American landscape architecture.

[citation needed] The original owner, Reverend G. W. T. Wright, was a minister at the nearby Hastings Methodist Episcopal Church.

Ignatius Eckert, a retired farmer, bought the home around 1909.