Joshua Green (1761-1840) bought this property in 1808 when it most likely was a log house. Although Havre de Grace was well-known throughout the 19th century as a reshipment port for timber from Pennsylvania, no log buildings other than this have been discovered. In 1805 Joshua Green married Elizabeth Kentlemyer Green (1785-1861). Joshua Green was a War of 1812 veteran and was elected as a City Commissioner in 1812-1813 and as City Treasurer in 1813. Joshua and Elizabeth Green had ten children including: George B. Green 1813-1885; Lyttleton Green 1817-1897; and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Green 1828-1894. Elizabeth Green married Colonel J. Thompson Frieze (1826-1898) in 1858, who later became Mayor three times. Elizabeth and J. Thompson Frieze had one child, Willie S. Frieze who married Virginia L. Frieze.

Although Joshua died in 1840 his wife, Elizabeth, lived until 1861 and owned any property that he had owned. They both died without wills and it was not until 1874 that their property was distributed after their eldest son George Green had been located in Texas. George Green had joined the service and left Havre de Grace in the early 1830s; he later said he was shipwrecked in the Gulf of Mexico during a storm. He claimed to have swum a mile to Velasco, Texas, to survive the storm on May 4, 1835. He stayed and settled there and became a very successful surveyor.

George Green married Martha Chance in 1840 with whom he had seven children and lived in Cameron, Texas, in 1847. After the death of Martha in 1859, Green married Nancy Hasseltine Anderson in 1861 and they had six more children. Green was a member of the Texas Veterans Association and a Mason. He died on April 19, 1885, and is buried in Cameron, Texas. Boxes of George Green’s “papers” are in the San Jacinto Museum of History.

After George had been located, Joshua and Elizabeth Green’s property was finally distributed in in 1874 when George Green sold it to Elizabeth Frieze (George’s younger sister). The Frieze family owned it until 1903. In the late 1800s, Lyttleton Green (Joshua Green’s other son) operated a Ship's Chandlery in the frame building next door on the south (118-120 St. John Street), which no longer exists. It was the second of Joshua Green’s properties.

As can be seen in photos, this house used to have an extensive wrap-around porch which at some time later was enclosed. The house was owned by Sylvester and Alice Penning in 1903 and in 1918 they sold it to Joseph H. and Olivia Durbin (1875-1951). They owned the home until 1961, during which some of these changes and renovations were probably made. Olivia Durbin died in 1951, before her husband, and is buried in St. James United Cemetery. Bonnie Kampes remembers that she heard this home used to have hiding places where slaves were hidden until they were put on a boat at the foot of Pennington Avenue (where the old city wharf was). Joseph and Olivia Durbin also owned 118-120 St. John Street during the same period of time.

In 1961 Joseph Durbin sold the home to Cornelius and Helen Smith, who were in the real estate business. It passed through Emil A. Rochet (1912-1992) and his wife, Helen, to Hardy & Martin, Inc., (also involved in the real estate business) in 1971. New owners in 1980 were William Isaiah Barnes (1920-1993) and Dorothy, his wife. They lived here for about nine years before selling it to A & M Properties, owned by Allen Fair and Mary Lynn Snyder.

From 1992 until 2016 this property was owned by George S. and Helen Conits, who own other investment properties in town with family members. They had various renters during this time including a new toy store called Sunshine House Toys in 2007 that was run by Renee Desch. Many people remember the distinctive way they painted the building, mostly yellow. For a short time after that it was renamed Ziza Moon. Both floors contained toys and games for children. From 2009 to 2013 the home was lived in by Domonique MacKenzie and her family.

This historic building is now owned by John and Kathy Klisavage (of Washington Street Books and Entertainment Museum) who purchased it in 2016 and are renovating it as their home.

County Records
Built 1920, 2184 sq ft, 1 bath, 2 stories with basement, 3923 sq ft lot.