In 1886 James O'Leary bought 162 acres from homesteader William Long. In 1888,
when Washington was still a territory, O'Leary built the house but didn't live
in it. After other owners, then John and Kate Dougherty bought the house in 1898
and the family lived in the house until Leo Dougherty died in 1983.
The house was built near the Snoqualmie River in a little village called
Cherry Valley. In 1910, railroads wanted the flat land where the village
was located so the railroads moved the buildings, some to what became Duvall.
The Dougherty House was moved up the hill to it's present site, pulled by
horses.
With a grant from King County, the Duvall Historical Society started working on
preserving the house in 1985 with a lease from the Catholic Archdiocese who
owned the house upon Leo Dougherty's death. The house has a special integrity as
a 19th century farmhouse since it
wasn't altered in the previous 100 years. No walls, doors or windows were
changed. The original woodwork and staircase remain as well as the exterior
siding. One acre of the Dougherty farmstead including the house was named
a king county landmark, and now is listed as a National Landmark.
In 1997, King County purchased the 26 remaining acres with Open Space Funds and
gave it to the City of Duvall. The Duvall Historical Society has a contract with
the City to maintain the interior and keep it open to the public. The Historical
Society has cared for the yard plantings and refurbished the interior, fitting
it with furniture and other items to represent the earlier era
Other remaining buildings on the property include the milk house and the
bunkhouse where Kate Dougherty, then a widow with eight children, boarded eight
loggers.