A local architect-contractor responsible for scores of Danville’s noteworthy structures late in the 19th century built the first incarnation of the house at 879 Green Street in 1885. Just before the turn of the 20th century, RB. Graham added to his Italianate dwelling an array of Queen Anne details including a striking corner tower of buff-colored brick like that he used in building the railroad passenger station on Craghead Street.

By the 1970s, the deteriorating structure became the first venture of the newly-organized Danville Historical Society after the heirs of the W. Dan Cooper family, which had acquired the property in 1960, gave it to the DHS. Financially unable to stabilize the house beyond general cleanup and replacement of the leaky roof, the Society gave the house to Thomas and Myrtle Shadrick, owners of the venerable H.W. Brown Florist nearby. Doing much of the renovation themselves, the Shadricks adapted the building as a seasonal gift and decorative accessories shop. After Brown’s 879 Shop closed in 1982, the Shadrick’s son T. Terry Shadrick, and his family, moved from the second floor to occupy the entire house.

In 1990, they sold the house which had been a family project for more than fifteen years to Dr. and Mrs. Robert Honea. Since 1995 this landmark has been home to Brian and Kristen Blair. Following the example of their predecessors for a generation, the Blairs just completed a careful exterior restoration, repainting the structure in Victorian hues.