This cottage was built in 1871 by Frank Marquet, a local carpenter and leaseholder. A decade later the cottage was bought by Bishop William Mercer Green for his eldest daughter, Sallie Cotten, and he provided improvements required by the 1880 leasehold agreement. Bishop Green was an Episcopal Bishop and fourth Chancellor of the University. His residence was Kendal, directly next door to the cottage .
Sallie Cotten managed Cotten House as an inn. The inn is also referred to as Old Tuckaway and is where Tuckaway Hall stands now . Mrs. Cotten also served as manager of Otey Parish and has a memorial dedicated to her work. Her husband, John M. Cotten , a Confederate Army veteran, was part owner of a retail store in Sewanee and was postmaster for a time. Mrs. Cotten sold the cottage to Mrs. Jeremy Grant Johnson in 1910, after which it had various residents. Since 2004, it is owned by John and Julia Gatta.
Gerald L. Smith and Sean T. Suarez, Sewanee Places; A Historical Gazetteer of the Domain and the Sewanee Area