A modest two-room clapboard house first built around 1750, a then-common design with a few extant examples in the region, it was later expanded in the early 19th century in a Federal style center-hall plan.

In the Victorian era, a Stick style porch with chamfered posts and an intricate cornice molding was built on the front and an oriel window on the southwest side.

It is located on a 1.1-acre (4,400 m2) parcel, overlooking the Slate Hill area, with one other building, a modern greenhouse not considered a contributing property.

[1] In 2001, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places due to its relatively intact preservation of its stylistically different architectural features.

[2] From a former Town of Wawayanda Historian--This home, commonly known as the Mary Ellis house is an architectural gem, it is not, and never was the General Benjamin Dunning residence.