Knock's Folly has witnessed more than 200 years of history. Henry Knock constructed the original clapboard log portion of the house around 1753. Donaldson Yeates bought the log house in 1770, and after his death his family added the brick wing to the structure, completing it in 1796. Descendants of Yeates owned the Folly until 1974, when Kent County acquired it, and in 1991 the building and surrounding property were transferred to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Today the building is managed by the Maryland Park Service as a visitor center and staff residence. The brick wing depicts Federal-style architecture with a rectangular shape, a semi-circular window over the front door, narrow columns with decorative molding on the porch, large windows with double-hung sashes, and decorative molding edging the ceilings inside. The original clapboard log house had a single window in each gable, no dormer windows, and two rooms heated by back-to-back fireplaces.