This home was first owned by Colin Fox, division superintendent of Western Telegraph, who moved into it in 1874.

In 1880, Alexander McVittie, president of the Detroit Ship Building Co., bought the house. After McVittie's death in 1909, his son-in-law, Kenneth M. Anderson, treasurer and manager of the Kenneth M. Anderson Co., resided here until 1915, when the home was sold.

In 1969, the Henry G. Groehns renovated the house and made it his home. Groehn was an attorney with offices in the downtown area.

From the 1960s to the early 2000s, it was the home of Beulah Groehn Croxford, who organized the Canfield West-Wayne Preservation Association, created to enable the restoration and preservation of the block's homes.