The house was built on a plantation from 1827 to 1830, making it the oldest house still standing in Washington County, Mississippi.[3][4] Prior to this house, a log cabin had been built at this location.[3] The logs can still be seen in the attic.[4] Thus, in 1830, Junius R. Ward, a planter from Kentucky who used the forced labor of enslaved people, built this house.[3]
The house was inherited by their son, Victor Erwin, who lived there with his wife, Margaret Preston McNeilly, the daughter of Confederate veteran and newspaper publisher J. S. McNeilly.[3][5] A loggia at the back of the house was added in 1910, as well as a rear cabinet in 1925.[3] During that time, William Alexander Percy, the author of Lanterns on the Levee, was often invited to the house.[5]
In 1940, it was inherited by their daughter, Margaret Erwin Shutt, who lived there with her husband, William Shutt.[3][5] They restored the house.[3]
