A two-story porch, a recreation of the original based on photographs, occupies the front right corner.

[2] John Ireland Howe was a native of Ridgefield, who developed machinery for the manufacturing of straight metal pins, a process that had previously been done by hand.

Originally based in upstate New York, Howe moved the business to Derby in 1838.

[2] In 1989 the owners, the Derby Historical Society, had plans for major rehabilitation of the house so that it could be used as a museum of industry.

[2]: 7  In 2016, the Derby Historical Society still owned the home, was planning for a third round of renovation, and hoped for it to become the Lower Naugatuck Valley Industrial Heritage Center, a museum to be open to the public.