The Swansea House is a rural, one-and-a-half-story building with a central chimney and a gable roof. Built c. 1731, it is typical of the Narragansett Basin and has a fair amount of original fabric on the interior, including mantles, moldings, and doors. The house originally stood in Swansea, Massachusetts and was purchased by the Newport Restoration Foundation (NRF) in 1977. It was disassembled and put in storage until 1981-82 when NRF re-assembled and restored the house on the Cozzens Court site.

This house was one of a number of buildings scheduled for demolition and offered to the NRF in a last-minute hope of its being rescued. This in part explains the lack of history on the house, as even the names associated with it are lost.

It is difficult to assimilate houses from off Aquidneck Island on which the city of Newport is located. They have different style influences than those found in Newport or its environs. During the late 1960s and 1970s, however, saving and preserving a structure was of prime importance to those dedicated to preservation. NRF did not seek these buildings. Quite the opposite was the norm. Those individuals intent on seeing certain buildings saved sought out NRF as the best available resource for quick and effective action.