Copper Hill House was built in 1888 for Martin and Mary Johnson. It was sturdily constructed with native hemlock and white pine from the Bayfield waterfront lumber mill of H.J. Wachsmuth, where Johnson worked as a millwright. The house latter came into the possession of Wachsmuth himself and served as the family home of the descendants of this lumberman and civic leader for half a century. Julie & Larry MacDonald have owned Cooper Hill House since 1989.

The "Cooper Hill House" title originates from a local nickname for the Manypenny Avenue hill which the house is situated atop. The Cooper family lived on the hill decades ago. Cooper Hill was traditionally used as a winter sliding hill and many Bayfield residents recall sailing down the hill on their bobsleds during the early part of the century. The house retains the simple, unimposing lines so typically characteristic of the architecture of so many historic Bayfield homes.