[1] The Griffin House is located in a residential area just north of Portland's downtown area, at the northwest corner of High Street and Cumberland Avenue.

It is a large 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame structure, with a mansard roof providing a full third floor, clapboard siding, and a brick foundation.

The roof eave is modillioned, and the dormers projecting from it have segmented-arch tops and decorative surrounds.

A side-facing stair leads up to the central entrance, which is sheltered by a porch supported by a bracketed square posts.

It was built in the wake of the city's devastating 1866 fire, which destroyed a large portion of its waterfront.