Built in 1795, probably by Pitt Cowles, the house at 1177 Marion Avenue in Southington, known as the Barnes-Frost House, was purchased in 1810 by Philo Barnes, a large landowner. His son, Seth E. Barnes, traveled to the California gold fields in the 1840s. In 1863, during the Civil War, Seth E. Barnes died in Charleston, South Carolina as a prisoner of war. His widow Lucinda, brought up her grandson, Edwin Seth Todd, who became General Manager of Clark Brothers Bolt Company. Levi D. Frost, of the Marion bolt manufacturing company, bought the house in 1883 and it remained in his family until 1916. The house features a repeating diamond and ellipse pattern running above the windows, doors and roof, an example of Federal-style detailing that may have been added later.