It was the home of one of Cambridge's leading residents in the late nineteenth century, and it has been named a historic site.

Designed by Samuel Hannaford, it was the home of Joseph Danner Taylor,[1] a local newspaperman and politician, U.S. Army judge soon after the Civil War, and U.S.

[2] Possessed of a strong mind from young boyhood, Taylor was fondly remembered by his neighbors as a paragon of community virtue,[3]: 953  as well as for his unwavering editorial support of the war when so many men quavered or actively sought to subvert the national struggle.

[1] Built of wood on a stone foundation, the house is topped with a two-part roof: some is slate-covered, while the rest is protected by asphalt.

The two-and-a-half-story facade is composed of three distinctive sections: the middle, comprising an elaborate porch with projecting eaves and a smaller sheltered pair of windows on the second story; a plain right side (as seen from the street) with flat walls, a third-floor gable, and a simple window in each story; and a three-story left side dominated by a large bay window on the first and second stories and a prominent overhang on the third.