Around 1819, Lewis Harvey acquired approximately seven thousand acres of land here that was rich in iron ore. He built a house as well as a highly profitable iron furnace that stood near today's town of Starkey. According to family tradition, he named these holdings Speedwell for the ship that brought his ancestors from England. The two-story, five-bay brick house has a single-pile, center-passage plan and a rear ell and porch. In 1877, Sedon remodeled the house, adding a one-story Corinthian portico and entrance.