Built about 1854, it was for most of his life the home of Thomas Eakins (1844-1916), one of the most influential American artists of the late 19th century.

It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965,[3] and is now home to a local artist cooperative.

It is a four-story rowhouse, its first three stories brick and the fourth floor of wood-frame construction.

Eakins was a leading figure in the development of realism in painting, and an innovator in the use of photography for artistic purposes.

He also taught a generation of artists at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he introduced new techniques for studying and painting the human form.