The property includes a home designed by architect Alexander Jackson Davis for Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph.

They added modern amenities like central heat, and hot and cold running water, as well as a new dining room and guest bedrooms in a large north wing (the last significant renovation to the building).

William and Martha Young's daughter Annette and son Innis also worked to preserve and restore the house, which was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.

[2][7] Annette and Innis Young also restored their great-great grandfather's home, the Locust Lawn Estate and opened it to the public as a museum in 1958.

Annette Young died in 1975, establishing in her will a trust so that her house, property, and collections of paintings and decorative arts could be opened to the public.