Master builder Isaiah Davenport, a native of New England, designed and built the home as a dwelling for his growing household as well as a demonstration of his building skills.

The 1820 Federal-style dwelling was built by upwardly mobile artisan Isaiah Davenport and his crew for his growing household, which included his wife, seven children, and nine enslaved workers.

As time passed, the once stately home in a fashionable neighborhood became a rundown rooming house in a seedy part of town.

Even in an advanced state of neglect, New Deal surveyors recognized the architectural significance of the home when they identified and measured it for the Historic American Buildings Survey in the 1930s.

In the mid-1990s the museum began another restoration process, with a funding drive headed by Cornelia Groves and Clare Ellis,[5] which resulted in a more authentic experience for museum visitors, including period wallpaper and period room furnishings which reflect the inventory taken at the time of Isaiah Davenport’s death in 1827.