In 1899 John H. Pierce purchased nearly twenty acres of land for his brother, Samuel H. Pierce. The twenty acres included the land on which the Pierce House stands, its lawns, and the spacious field are northerly of the house (bounded on three sides by Lincoln and Weston Roads and the Center School property.) In 1901 he purchase about ten acres from an abutter, which included the hill and more wooded area to the rear of the house. The Pierce Park property was completed by the addition of another wooded acre acquired by Elsie in 1917 and given to the town by Robert in 1930.

John Pierce planted many shrubs and trees to grace the grounds of his mini-estate. He had orchards and a vegetable garden, and horses were kept in the barn and carriage house which stood behind the present skating pond. This building burned down in 1950).

On this estate the Pierce House was built in 1900. The architectural design of the front facade of the main part of the house is based upon that of the Vassal-Craigie-Longfellow House, which was built in 1759 and still stands on Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

A decorative feature of the front facade of both houses is the four Ionic pilasters which extend from the ground upwardly to the roof. The front door of the Pierce House is made more ornate than the Longfellow House by provision of the two shorter pilasters which frame the sides of the door, and by the beautifully designed window at the top of the door. The windows at the top of the front door of the Longfellow House are two simple rectangular panes of glass. Both houses have third story dormer windows at the front and a railing at the roof top.

A major difference in the exterior of the two houses is the location of the wing or kitchen extension. In the Longfellow House the wing is positioned on the rear, whereas the wing of the Pierce House extends to the side on the right as you face the front of the house. By placing the wing on the side, the rear facade of the Pierce House is unbroken by a projecting section and, consequently, it is considered by many to be architecturally as pleasing to view as the front.

The downstairs interior of the main part of the Pierce House includes four spacious rooms, just as in the Longfellow House. The dining room of the Longfellow House is at the rear whereas in the Pierce House it is the northerly one of the two front rooms. Many visitors to the Pierce House notice the charming interior moldings which frame the windows of the music room. It is believed that these moldings are hand carved.

In both houses the first floor hallway extends through the house from front to rear, but the hallway of the Pierce House is more spacious providing an attractive reception area. The use of Ionic pilasters to frame partially the front hall of the Pierce House seems to carry into the interior the classical dignity and grace of the many pilasters and columns of the exterior. Visitors to the Pierce House admire the beautiful balustrades on the stairs, having posts in alternating sets of three with the posts of each set presenting a slightly different design. This feature is identical to the balustrade on the stairway of the Longfellow House leading to the second floor.