Constructed during 1929–1931, the house was designed by Jeter O. Frye to resemble England's Canterbury Castle on the exterior and to evoke the Art Deco styling of Hollywood of the 1920s on the interior.

Canterbury Castle was a private 6,000-square-foot (560 m2), three-story house located in Arlington Heights near Washington Park, offering views of downtown Portland.

Constructed from basalt stone quarried from Rocky Butte,[3][4] the house featured characteristics of a castle such as a moat, a drawbridge and a copper-topped turret.

The leaded glass slit window at the stair tower's top level featured a spiderweb pattern, a signature element of castle designer Jeter O. Frye's work.

[5] The Art Deco-style interior, meant to evoke a 1920s Hollywood style, featured mahogany woodwork, tile floors and chandeliers.

The inside also contained Spanish-style white stucco, spiral staircases and wrought iron features including stair rails, built-in cabinetry door and window hardware and lighting fixtures.

[2][5] The house included a basement pool (which eventually closed due to water leaks), a stone fireplace 10 feet (3.0 m) in width, and small square windows.

The castle attracted paying tourists and school groups, became a stop on the Washington Park bus tour and hosted Halloween parties for a local radio station.

[2] The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 under the ownership of Dale and Karen Bernards, who had submitted an application for listing one year prior.

The couple also struggled to pay for costly landslide prevention efforts, rising property taxes and high heating bills.

[3][5] Lynne began a "one-woman crusade" to save the castle, seeking assistance from Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard and from home improvement expert and This Old House host Bob Vila.

In 2009, The Oregonian reported that Stansel would wait until the economy and housing market improved before deciding whether to sell the land or build a new structure.