Outbuildings on the property include three once-detached Shingle style cabins and a carriage house (now converted to a caretaker's quarters), all built in the late 19th century by Erastus Corning.

The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009,[1] for its exceptional collection of modern architecture, including the Cold War-era bunker and a rare Harrison design located outside New York.

The entire Sargent's Head area was acquired in the late 19th century by Erastus Corning, a prominent Albany, New York businessman and politician, and it was his family that first developed what became known as “Sea Change”.

This portion of the Corning property was sold in 1939 to William A. M. Burden, a scion of the Vanderbilt family and longtime president of the Museum of Modern Art.

Burden had for many years consulted for the United States government on military matters, including nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology, and was undoubtedly aware of Soviet advances in those areas.