The family offered to sell the house to the city (reputedly for $1) but it was sold to the Watertown Historical Society (founded 1933), and opened to the public in 1938.

[6] Inside the house at the center a hanging spiral staircase connects the floors.

[2] Richards came to Wisconsin in 1836 and operated a grist mill across the Rock River from this house.

He was later appointed the first district attorney of Jefferson County, and was elected justice of the peace and an early mayor of Watertown.

In 1840 he fetched his wife Eliza Forbes from Massachusetts, reportedly promising to build her the finest house in the best town in Wisconsin Territory.