In 1831, Oakland County pioneers Theron and Rebecca Murray purchased eighty acres of land from the U.S. government, including this site. This Greek Revival house and the barn, constructed around 1835, were built of hand-hewn poplar beams with wooden pegs. From 1942 to 1958, Charles W. Malpass owned the house as well as a parcel directly across Halsted Road. That forty-acre pasture served as a landing strip for private planes, and Malpass allegedly named the house "Upson Downs."