David Taylor came from New York to Sheboygan in 1846 to establish a law practice and quickly rose to prominence as a legislator and judge. He hired Roth, a contractor and mason, to erect this stately, brick Italianate house. The low-hipped roof, bracketed eaves, dentil course at the roofline, and square belvedere typify the style. The original ornamental porch columns have been replaced, and the roof cresting and shutters are gone. In 1905, the estate became the county asylum. Inmates worked on the farm to produce dairy products and vegetables, and their overseer lived in the house. In 1915, the county remodeled the residence into a workhouse, where vagrants and prisoners lived while they worked on the farm as part of their sentences. Both uses reflected the Progressive Era idea that physical labor on the land would rehabilitate the spirit. Since 1954 the building has been a museum. Several late-nineteenth-century buildings have been moved to the museum’s site.