Nothing bespeaks the continuity of history and heritage more eloquently than a home which has sheltered families of distinction through the long years. This lovely old home has had this privilege for more than one hundred and fifty years.

The central part of the house was built for Sarah Porter Hillhouse and her husband, David, who printed the local newspaper, the Washington Gazette. It is the letter from Sarah to her father back in Connecticut, dated 1787, that gives a vivid picture of the little frontier town of Washington in its infancy. It was so unusual in that era to see a woman write that sometimes patrons of David Hillhouse's store insisted on asking Sarah to write for them just to see if it could be done. Mrs. Hillhouse was perhaps the first woman newspaper editor in America. As such, she was entered into the Georgia Hall of Fame in 2006.

When Merril Callaway bought the house in 1843, he had just married Mary Ann Henderson Irvin Scott who lived here. The Callaway family was large and merry but none of the four sons born here followed in the Callaway tradition of becoming ministers. But they did become distinguished Georgia citizens.

Other famous Georgia families (kissin' kin) connected with the house were the Andrews, Butlers, Balls, and the Nolen family of New Orleans.