The house provided lodging and meals to travelers in the mid-1800s, before the construction of a nearby railroad made the stagecoach route obsolete.

In 1844, Sylvanus Wade moved his family to the Greenbush area, where he purchased several hundred acres of land with the intent of building a town.

However, when travel by horse and stagecoach became obsolete and the railroad between Sheboygan and Fond du Lac went through Glenbeulah to the north,[9] the house's full-time use as an inn was discontinued.

[18] Ownership of the house passed out of the family in 1941 when it was sold to Mr. and Mrs. M. J. Dorst of Freeport, Illinois, with the new owners announcing their intent to restore it to 1850s condition.

[27] In December 1949 she announced that she was putting the house up for sale to any buyer because of the large expense that would be required to meet modern health codes for restaurants.

[29] The sale of the house did not occur until July 1950 when it was purchased, along with all furnishings, by the Kohler Foundation for $17,000 with the intention of donating it to the historical society after the restoration work was completed.

The historical society also operates the Wesley Jung Carriage Museum at the site, exhibiting a large collection of 19th-century American horse-drawn vehicles.