The house, built c. 1802 for Deacon Hezekiah Hutchins, a New Hampshire native and veteran of the French and Indian and American Revolutionary Wars, who moved to the area in 1801 and was one of the founders of the Congregational church at Rumford Center. He also served as town moderator and as a justice of the peace, indicating his prominence in the community. His house is a well-preserved example of a vernacular Federal style house. The most significant element of the house, however, is the addition c. 1840 of a series of murals in its southeast parlor, drawn by Rufus Porter, who was then at the height of his time as an itinerant painter. In addition to painting on the plastered walls, Porter also applied graining effects to some of the room's woodwork.