Andrew and Bertha Skansie bought this property just after the turn of the century and first built a cabin on the beach before constructing the brick home in 1910. Andrew, a young but accomplished stonemason, brought his skill from Croatia when he immigrated in 1900, used large rocks and boulders from the nearby beach for the home's foundation, and reportedly bought 16,000 bricks from a facility on Vashon Island for a penny apiece. All five of Andrew and Bertha's children were born in the home, and the three sons spent most of their lives living there. In 1940, Vincent, Antone, and Peter took over the family's operation of the Avalon, their father's purse seiner, with Antone as skipper and Vincent and Peter playing vital roles in the family fishing operation. The brothers lived in the house and maintained the property, preserving much of its original state. After Peter's death in 2002, the city of Gig Harbor bought the property, the first time in nearly a century that members of the Andrew Skansie family no longer lived there, and the Skansie brothers' wish to preserve it helped lead to its becoming a public park.