This is one of the only two weatherboard buildings extant in east Melbourne, and is representative of the large number of similar buildings that were built in East Melbourne in the 1850s and early 1860s.

The house was built for a Mrs. Egan. Mrs. Egan's first name has not been confirmed but is presumed to be Ann (wife of Hugh) as two of Ann's daughters, Mary Ann Elizabeth Middlemo and Ellen Whorlton were subsequent owners, and later her grand-daughter, Mary Ellen Sherlock. The family association ended in unhappy circumstances sometime after Mary Ellen's death in 1928, when her husband, Charles Sherlock, transferred the house to Mrs. Mary Ellen Smith as a gift, on the understanding that they would live together. But in July 1934 she sold the house for 650 pounds and moved to North Melbourne. Sherlock asked to move in with her there and when she refused he attacked her with a kitchen knife and a tomahawk. Weakened from a recent stroke he did not inflict much damage but was charged with attempted murder, or intent to do grievous bodily harm. However he was found not guilty and discharged.

The Whorltons occupied the house between 1879 and 1885, and the Sherlocks were occupying it at the time of Mrs. Sherlock's death, but the house was mostly occupied by short term tenants.

The Egan family also owned a similar, slightly older house two doors to the south, then next to the Boundary Hotel, and the Whorltons lived there for a few years prior to moving to No. 1151.