Named for John H. Stevens, it was the first authorized house on the west bank of the Mississippi River in what would become Minneapolis.

The house is part of the Minnehaha Historic District and managed by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

He and his wife, Frances Helen, had no white neighbors, but Native people were often seen nearby.That probably ended in 1851 with the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux.

It was discovered as a historic property and in 1896 moved to Minnehaha Park by thousands of school kids, in relays, along with ten horses.

Initial work on the renovation was underway when another suspicious fire on October 1 burned the first and second floors and part of the roof.