Captain Eben Linnell, the original owner, was born in 1811 on Barley Neck Road, Orleans. He lived a full and adventurous life until he died at sea off the coast of Brazil in 1864 when a tropical storm pinned him against his ships wheel. It's been said that the captain was unequaled among American ship masters for native ability, energy and shrewdness.

From the bygone era of stately clipper ships, one of the Captain's many world-ranging speed records still stands. In 1855, he raced his most famous ship, the Massachusetts-built Eagle Wing from London to Hong Kong in 83 1/2 days. Captain Linnell was also famous as an inventor. He devised an improved top-sail rig, which was patented and incorporated in the design of 64 ships.

He still found time for two great love affairs in his lifetime. The first was with the beautiful Rebeca Crosby who became his bride in 1835. The Captain had a Cape Codder buildt for her on the present site of the Captain Linnell House, which at one point consisted of 35 acres of open land along 400 feet of the Cape Cod Bay shore. There they had three daughters. In France in 1850, he fell in love again. This time with a French-designed, neo-classic villa built for a shipping agent friend in Marseilles. The Captain brought back the plans to American and soon began building an exact replica of the villa for his family.

He also brought back furniture and fittings for the house from Europe and the Orient, and it seems he was preparing to fully enjoy his mansion's grandeur but in another of the endless ironies of the sea, he told his family that they voyage that took his life would be his last.

The house still carries the heritage of the clipper master's personality and relects his worldliness, inventiveness and taste.