The house on the hill was built in 1885 by the wife of U.S.N. Lieutenant William Cowles.  It stood atop the elevated terrain north of today's Curzon Road at 117th Street and achieved distinction as one of Richmond Hill's most beautiful homes.  Lieutenant Cowles went on to achieve minor distinction himself, although not the kind he would have wanted.  On the night of October 10, 1891, he was in command of President Benjamin Harrison's official yacht, the Despatch, when she was ship wrecked off Assateague Island on the Virginia coast.  (President Harrison was not aboard.)  The sinking came about 2 years after Cowles' wife divorced him on grounds of neglect because of all the time his assignment to the Despatch required him to be away from home.