This historic house was built sometime around the year 1810, using handmade bricks and lumber from the surrounding forest. It stands on the Grassmere acreage which has been donated to the zoo and is currently in process of being restored. The zoo itself moved to the Grassmere site at the time the acreage was donated.
There is an interesting quote from John Ruskin on the sign beside the road leading up to the old farmhouse:
"Old buildings are not ours. They belong partly to those who built them, and partly to the generation of mankind who are to follow us."
