David Curtin, his wife Ellen, and infant son, Jeremiah, were among a group of Irish immigrants who settled in Greenfield in the late 1830s. After living in two log homes, Curtin, with the help of an Irish stone mason, built a stone house in 1846. The limestone structure resembles a traditional Irish cottage.

The Curtin family continued to occupy the house after David’s death in 1856 and Jeremiah’s departure for college in 1858. In 1866, the property was sold to the neighboring Trimborn family. The house was occupied until the 1920s. In the 1930s, the vacant structure became part of the federal government’s Greenbelt project. In 1952, federal government turned over the house to the Milwaukee County Historical Society. However, funds for its restoration were not available until the nation’s Bicentennial observance in 1976.

Curtin House, the first stone house in the old Town of Greenfield, is important historically as part of Milwaukee County’s early Irish settlement and also as the boyhood home of Jeremiah Curtin. Curtin became an accomplished linguist, author and world traveler. Aided by his facility for languages, Curtin wrote extensively on the language and folklore of primitive peoples all over the world.

This Curtin House is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.