Garfield purchased his farm in Mentor, Ohio in 1876, while he served in the House of Representatives. He wanted a place where he could, “put my boys at work and teach them farming” and “where I can touch the earth and get some strength from it.” An enthusiastic farmer, he spent many hours conducting agricultural experiments. He soon began to expand the original one and one-half-story frame house on the property to accommodate his large family. Between 1877 and 1880, Garfield and his wife, Lucretia, enlarged their home from nine rooms to twenty, added a porch across the front, and refurnished the interior.