This property was originally designed as a summer house for Leslie and Rhoda Violet Patten Wheeler in 1916 by famed Chicago architectural firm Holabird and Roche. Construction had to be put off until after the conclusion of World War I. Later, in 1925, the Wheelers hired landscape architect Warren H. Manning to design a little ravine for the house to overlook. Manning is remembered as having been a staunch supporter of the “wild garden” approach to garden design. In 1932, when the Wheelers commissioned David Adler to design their next home on Mayflower Road, they used this property as their main source of inspiration.

Subsequent owners of the home were Charles Dennehy and Virginia Wilson Dennehy, through the 1950s. Virginia Wilson Dennehy was a decorated golfer and sportswomen, competing in women’s amateur golf tournaments and serving as committee chairwoman of the USGA in the 1950s. Their son Charles Dennehy Jr. was an accomplished rider who competed for the U.S. Equestrian team at international events.

Leslie Wheeler worked for Pickands Brown & Co., a Chicago firm that manufactured pig iron. He was an avid sportsman and ornithologist, as well as a trustee of the Field Museum.