When constructed, it sat on over 760 acres (3.1 km2) roughly bounded on the north end by the Red Rock Wilderness Overlook Regional Park, the Ball's Bluff Battlefield and the Potomac River.

In accordance with Mrs. Paxton's will, the buildings and 50 surrounding acres were preserved and organized into a charitable trust to benefit "needy children."

Designed by New York architect Henry Dudley, the nearly 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) 32-room Second Empire building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 for its architectural and local significance.

Among the buildings that remain from the original estate but are outside the present campus include the Farm Managers Home (now the Exeter Community Club House) and the stabilized creamery ruins at Red Rock Park along Edwards Ferry Road.

The mansion and remaining 16-acre (65,000 m2) grounds are currently the home of The Arc of Loudoun, Northern Virginia's premier advocacy, education and therapy organization dedicated to serving people with disabilities and their families.