George Washington Bourne built this Federal-style brick house in 1826 as an undadorned home. After a fire in 1852 destroyed the original barn, he rebuilt it and added decorative embellishments inspired by Milan Cathedral in Italy. Bourne and his carpenter's apprentice, Thomas Durrell, designed and carved all of the wooden trim that decorates the house. The name "Wedding Cake House" was coined by a postcard maker in the early 1900s along with a fanciful but entirely fictitious story about a ship's captain sailing before he could cut his wedding cake, a tale that helped sell many postcards.
