The history of the house can be traced to 1899, the boom era of Greenwood, when it was built and owned by Henry Curtis Shaw, a lawyer, and his wife Dora who were originally from PEI. After leaving the city for Vancouver where Henry became a police magistrate, the house was purchased in 1905 by Hugh and Margaret McCutcheon. They had three sons, one of whom was killed during World War One. Hugh served as the Collector of Customs for 24 years in Greenwood where he passed away in 1924.
In 1947, the house was sold to Alma (aka “Betty”) Forshaw who was married to Jim Forshaw, both of whom were long-time residents of Greenwood. Ownership of the home was then transferred to Wilfred R. Tremblay in 1959.
After fire burned the house in the 1960s, it was torn down. The property was subsequently purchased by George Alexander McKenzie in 1972 who worked for the Cooke Lumber Company during the 1960s. It was his intention to build a new home and retire there, but this plan never materialized as the sawmill closed in 1967-68. The McKenzie family left Greenwood but returned in the early 1980s. When George passed away, his wife Donelda moved to the east coast to join her family.