[1] The former Gilmanton Academy building occupies a prominent location in the village center of Gilmanton, at the back of a semicircular drive between the Congregational church and the public library.

It is a 2-1/2 story wood frame structure, its main section covered by a hip roof and wooden clapboards.

The inner corners on either side of the front projection are filled by single-bay two-story blocks with a lower profile.

It is one of the last private academy buildings to be built in the state, which had ten years earlier required towns to fund secondary education, leading to a decline in enrollments at such private schools.

The building was designed by Bodwell & Sargent of Concord, one of whose principals was a Gilmanton native.