The house at Gari Melchers Home and Studio possesses a rich history that predates Gari Melchers. Because the original deed of ownership is lost, the year in which the Georgian-style frame house was built and the identity of its first owner is not precisely known. But based on the existing physical evidence, the possibilities can be narrowed down. The original plan of the house consisted of a first and second floor side passage and four rooms to the north (the present dining room, library and two bedrooms) dating to the 1790s. Since surviving documents tell us that the Horner and Voss families owned the property between 1785 and 1804, one of those two families must have been responsible for the earliest section of the current structure.