Albert Gallatin bought this land in 1786 when the area was known as the “Western Country.” Three years later he built a two-story brick house at Friendship Hill for his new bride, Sophie. After Sophie died, Gallatin added to the house in 1798 and in 1823 for his second wife, Hannah, and their children. By the end of his ownership, Friendship Hill included a barn, a well, vegetable and pleasure gardens, an orchard, and a gardener's cottage. Because Gallatin’s political post kept him from living at Friendship Hill for years at a time, he finally sold the isolated estate in 1832.