Joseph Henry designed the house in 1836 and lived there from its completion in 1838 until taking a position as the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1848 .
Joseph Henry is a prominent American physicist who worked in electromagnetics .
Joseph Henry , a prominent American physicist who worked in electromagnetics , designed the house in 1836 and lived there from its completion in 1838 until taking a position as the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1848 .