The houses first appear in the 1869 Rate Books when they are each described as having four rooms and a bathroom. In 1871 the houses were described as having eight rooms. It seems the houses were built initially as single storey, with a second storey added two years later. There appears to be no Notice of Intent to Build relating to the houses. Mrs. Stevens owned both houses until her death in 1893. A number of different tenants occupied the houses over the years, but in about 1880, according to the Rate Books, Mrs. Stevens took up residence in No. 47. Her will confirms her address as Grey Street. Her daughter, also Louisa Stevens, owned the houses until at least 1900.

Mrs. Stevens and her three young children, Louisa, Thomas Henry Gwennap and Annie (later Mrs Miller), arrived in Melbourne on the Hotspur in 1857 among the four hundred and eighty six Government immigrants on board.