In 1844 Benjamin Ticknor, a U.S. naval surgeon from Connecticut, built this Classic Revival house on his 183-acre farm in Pittsfield Township. He used cobblestone construction, which originated in upstate New York. The rear wing includes a small frame house, first occupied in 1835 by his brother Heman Ticknor, farm manager and township leader. At Dr. Ticknor's death in 1858, his extensive medical and classical library was given to
the University of Michigan. The home was listed in the Historic American Building Survey in 1936.