[1][2] In 1895, Charles Howard Williams and his wife, the former Emma Alice Jewett, engaged Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White to design them a residence at 690 Delaware on an adjoining lot to his brother William at 672 Delaware Avenue.

[8][9] The front portico, featuring iron railings made by August Feine & Sons, is supported by six Ionic columns.

The property is surrounded by a fence and gates were made locally in Buffalo by John H. Williams Iron Works.

The building stood vacant for three years until 1940 when the Common Council voted to dedicate the mansion to the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic (who served in the American Civil War) and the Spanish–American War for use as a meeting place and storage for records.

[3] In 1955, two separate real estate companies tried to purchase to buy the property from the Common Council with the hope of tearing down the structure and replacing it with a modern office building.

[8] It was eventually bought by the LiRo Group, a national construction and engineering firm, who acquired the property for use as its headquarters.