A survey notes: The house was designed by the owner, J.J. Cater*, with assistance from a local carpenter. Cater left the house to his son Lawton when he moved to Florida in 1928. Lawton Cater lived in the house until his death in 1977. The house remains in the family. In 1975 NBC used the house in a TV movie called Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys.

John James Cater (1854-1933) operated a general store in Forsyth for 40 years before moving to Coral Gables, Florida, where he operated a successful furniture store, and had a second location in Miami.