Purchasing undeveloped land in 1715 took someone who was a visionary, an optimist and a hard worker. John Martin, the original owner of 63 acres, was all three.

Sometime between 1728 and 1734, John Martin’s son, John Martin the younger, built a house for his wife and eight children consisting of a one-room dwelling with a loft above and an outside chimney. The first expansion was a lean-to added to the back of the home. In 1814, Holden Martin, John the younger’s grandson, created an eight-room cottage with a center chimney, a gambrel roof and an exterior of cedar shingles and white trim. In the late 19th-century, an ell—or perpendicular wing—was added at the rear, which today houses a working loom.

Visitors today can enjoy the house which has not been physically altered since the last additions. It is now filled with collections from the Martin family who lived on the farm for 200 continuous years. The property also includes two barns and cultivated fields surrounded by dry stone walls and woodlands.