The house was one of the first to be built in Back Bay, and has an unparalleled state of preservation that includes wallpaper, textiles, furnishings, and family artifacts and collections.

[3] The widowed Catherine Hammond Gibson purchased the newly filled in land for $3,696 in 1859 in order to move away from Beacon Hill.

[5] Edward Clarke Cabot designed the building which was finished by 1860 in the Italian Renaissance style with an exterior of brownstone and red brick.

In 2013, Simple Machine Theatre staged a production of The Turn of the Screw on the museum's Grand Staircase and front hall before an audience seated in the entrance.

[11] A 2018 promotional film for Boston Ballet's production of The Nutcracker features scenes of Clara in the museum's Music Room and on the Grand Staircase.