Past historians considered it to be the oldest brick house in the United States, although that distinction belongs to Bacon's Castle, the 1665 plantation home of Virginian Arthur Allen.

Its end chimneys were incorporated into the walls, which is unusual for the time and area of its construction, and its "separate flues are brought together in the gables.

For many years it was believed that the house was built by Mathew Cradock, one of 35 founding members of the Massachusetts Bay Company.

In 1677, Richard Russell of Charlestown sold the land with "one dwelling house and barn" to Peter Tufts [Sr.] of Charlestown, although a prior agreement may have been made, with Tufts Sr. likely already settled on the land.

The brick mason was William Bucknam, brought over in 1632 from Chelsea, England to build the house.

[5] In 1887, Samuel Lawrence saved the house from demolition when he purchased it as a wedding gift for his daughter.