It remained in the Welles family until 1913, when it was purchased by a group of businessmen who intended to use it as an athenaeum or a library, but a lack of funds led to its sale to Wallace Nutting.

[4] Webb was a successful merchant who had ships trading in the West Indies and ran a local store; he married Mehitabel Nott and had six children before his death at age 34.

[4][5] The house's fame stems from George Washington's five night stay there, where he planned the Siege of Yorktown with French general Comte de Rochambeau.

[4] Smithsonian magazine writer Howard Hugh suggests that the red wool flock wallpaper in the bedchamber where Washington slept was hung in anticipation of the general's arrival.

[4] It was purchased by a group of businessmen who sought to operate it as an athenaeum or a library, but a lack of funds resulted in its sale to Wallace Nutting in 1916.

[4] Lyle writes that Nutting intended to use the house "as one of the links in his 'Chain of Colonial Picture Houses'—all important historic sites located in New England that were part of his business plan to promote a nostalgic appreciation of 'Old America.

On July 4, 1916, the Webb house was opened to the public with a 25 cent admission charge, but the American entry into World War I and the rationing of gasoline took its toll on Nutting's business.