Built: 1815 When Jacob Fry and his family left Pennsylvania in 1800, he was one of more than 30 families seeking religious freedom and the good farming said to be had in Upper Canada. Of German Mennonite background, the families were hardworking, faithful, and very community oriented. Jacob settled first near Grimsby, but soon was convinced by his wife to move to Vineland in 1815, to be close to the other families who had settled there.

The house he built, with its central chimney plan and double attic, was based on medieval German architecture, and was a statement of the strong traditions of his community. The Fry family lived in it until 1895, when they moved to a new brick home they built less than 200 yards away.

The little log house was left as a playhouse for the children, and even served time as a chicken house. In the late 1950s, a group of volunteers rescued the house, and moved it down to its current site on the museum grounds. It was restored and turned into a showcase for the artifacts and lifestyle of the Fry family, including the handiwork of one of Jacob's sons, the weaver Samuel Fry.