The oldest portion, a “half house”, was built by Thomas Higgins in 1730. Other than the National Parks Service (and the Cape Cod National Seashore, which operates the property now), it’s only been owned by two different families: Higgens, Atwood, and then back to Higgins:

1730—Built by Higgens, Thomas
1805—Sold to Atwood, Thomas, Sr. (same name, huh!)
1873—last occupied, when Atwood, Thomas, Jr. (popular name) died
1919—“Acquired”/inherited? by Higgens, George

George, a Brookline resident, did a massive restoration on the house from 1919 to 1961 when he donated the whole property to the National Park Service when the Cape Cod National Seashore was created. He also built a slew of outbuildings to create a “colonial farmstead” and kept a journal about his experience.

I love how drawing a building helps you to see details you wouldn’t have picked up on, like the fact that the windows on either side of the door aren’t symmetrical, not in their horizontal placement, nor vertical. And that the door isn’t centered under the chimney. Maybe this is due to the fact that it wasn’t built all at once. I chose to illustrate it from the side because I enjoyed the different siding textures—so very Cape Cod. I also chose to illustrate it with more of the landscaping from the HABS 1959 picture because it looks cared for.

links!
NPS page on George Higgins
Wikipedia of course
Cape Cod Times article