[5] David described it as a "rambling old affair" with a framework "mortised and put together with wooden pegs....The ceilings were so high, the only way it could have been heated in winter would have been to set it on fire.

[7] In the 1920s Oliphant had Greenville architect William Riddle Ward renovate the house to what she believed was its original Federal style, demolishing one wing, removing the colonnaded porch, and adding three rooms to the second floor.

Some original features were preserved, including hand-hewn timbers, brick and rock supports, six-paneled doors, a hand-carved mantelpiece, and a Palladian window in the second story.

[8] Oliphant was able to have her house and nearby Whitehall listed on the National Register, the first buildings in Greenville to be so recognized.

She also organized a successful petition campaign to dissuade local officials from running a proposed highway bypass through James Street.