Stephen and Mehitable Frazee’s house reflects their transition from subsistence pioneers to successful farmers. They may have come to the Cuyahoga Valley as tenant farmers as early as 1811, and within 10 years they were able to buy more than 600 acres. The Frazees built the substantial brick house in 1825-1827 on a prominent hillside site, both signs of success and of a family established for the future. They based many of the house’s Federal-style features on Asher Benjamin’s The American Builder’s Companion, a popular 1806 style guide that did not include how-to-do-it instructions. Ultimately, they built their home with bricks they made themselves using local materials and local knowledge. Fragments discovered by archeologists indicate that the dishware was imported, probably on the canal, and was typical of the middle class. The house was inspired by Asher Benjamin’s plan for a country house, with a boxy shape and balanced, symmetrical windows, chimneys, and roofline.