Kemper Log House was built in 1804 and is one of the two oldest buildings in Cincinnati. It was originally located in Walnut Hills, on what is now Kemper Lane, near McMillan Street, and was home to Rev. James Kemper, his wife, and most of his 15 children. Rev. Kemper was the first Presbyterian minister ordained north of the Ohio River and he founded many Presbyterian churches. Adjacent to the log home is the Kemper Kitchen, a replica of the original 1804 stone kitchen used by the family. Using family resources and a period layout drawn by a Kemper descendant, builders constructed the kitchen on-site.

This building is considered a house rather than a cabin because of the plastered walls, staircase, and wood trim. The family gathered in the large sitting room after the work was done, to read, sew, socialize, or pray. Prayer, Bible reading, and hymn singing were daily rituals for the family. Reverend Kemper was said to have a reference library numbering 70 books.

The addition of a weatherboard on the exterior took place sometime in the mid-1820s. The original homestead eventually consisted of the home, barn, smokehouse, loom room, stone kitchen, and large garden with orchard.

Members of the Kemper family continued to live in the log house until its relocation to the Cincinnati Zoo in 1913. In 1936 the house was included in the Historic American Buildings Survey and by 1975 was entered into the National Register of Historic Places. (The National Register designation has been removed from the Kemper Log House since its move to Heritage Village Museum.) On January 14, 1982, the Kemper Log House was moved again, this time to Sharon Woods Park, where it remains as part of Heritage Village Museum but is maintained and owned by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.