Nickolaus Tschirhart emigrated to America on the Norwegian in 1845. A year later, he married Katherine Meyer, who originated from Alsace-Lorraine. Together, they had 11 children.

Jean Baptiste Cordier, the first owner of the property, sold it Sept. 14, 1847, to Jacob Biry and Stephen Ahr for $32. Eugenia Tschirhart purchased the property in 1906 for $360, and it remained in the family for many years.

Constructed of native rock, with hand-hewn cypress beams and rafters, the house is typical of the homes built in the 1840s.

The house was restored by Ima and Leroy Seal, who moved to Castroville in the 1970s and completed the project in 1975. Ima Jean Tschirhart Seal was a fourth-generation descendant of Nickolaus Tschirhart.

The home pays homage to original details such as no doors between rooms and iron hooks that supported curtains. A steep set of stairs ascending to the sleeping quarters is still present. The dining room features a pie safe. 

The Seals added a bedroom, bathroom and utility room in 1979. They used D’Hanis tile flooring, an old pine door and stained glass from the original D’Hanis church that burned down in 1968. Ima’s relatives donated the glass. The glass is said to be from Germany and features the central figure of St. Elizabeth, who fed the poor despite her husband’s wishes.

The house has a Pioneer Homes of Castroville marker and Texas Historical Commission marker, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.