The 3,500-square-foot (330 m2) home is considered mostly unaltered and boasts a variety of architectural styles, such as Colonial Revival, Queen Anne, and Victorian.

The Ben Olsen House, known locally as "The Mansion", was a symbol of wealth and prosperity during the peak timber years of the town of Vader, then known as Little Falls.

The Ben Olsen House remains the only Queen Anne style architecture home in Vader.

The Ben Olsen House was constructed possibly by 1903[2][3] and according to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) nomination, at least between 1905 and 1913.

[6] A small home on an adjoining property was built under Ben Olsen's instruction, specifically for his bookkeeper.

The community was a fast-growing town at the time, noted for its sawmills, clay production, and railroad connections to four different lines.

[4] The home was the first residence in Vader to have electricity, powered during the daytime into early evening by Olsen's Stillwater mill.

The child is said to have died when the house maid, who was carrying him to a bottom-floor fireplace to dry after a bath, tripped on her dress on the stairs, the boy flying through a window to his death.

Additionally, a prior case in 1911 that targeted favorable rates to sawmills in the Little Falls region, therefore possibly being discriminatory to residents, was noted and the 1912 commission ordered the company to adhere to stricter contract and accounting standards.

[16][17][18] The Stillwater timber holdings were sold to the Winlock Lumber Company,[19] The Ben Olsen House, an occupied private residence, is located at the end of D Street, which is approximately southeast of the downtown core of Vader, Washington.

[4] The family had received a grant earlier in 1976 of over $2,000 by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission to help offset costs of their efforts on the home.

[6] In the 2000s, the home, along with the Grace Evangelical Church of Vader, was part of "An Old-Fashioned Christmas" celebration and tour held in the town.

[3][9] The house was part of the "Hidden Treasures of Lewis County" tour held by the local chapter of the United Way in 2003.

[5] In 2003, the Ben Olsen House received the Officers Annual Award for Outstanding Achievement in Stewardship by the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.