The house and several outbuildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1996, based on the distinctive characteristics of the architecture and an association with the life of a significant individual from the past.

It was originally owned by Harvey Lee Ross, a railroad developer, banker, merchant, and agriculturist.

At the time of the NRHP application, the property was owned by Ralph Malott, his daughter Nelda, and her husband, James C.

The overall style of the house is Greek Revival, including a one-story front porch with four Doric-inspired wood columns with fluting, six-over-six windows, and an entryway with a divided transom and skylights.

The interior of the house also features Greek Revival elements, including fluted window and door woodwork, and a formal parlor with sidelights and transoms.

He was born in Seneca County, New York, on October 10, 1817, the second son (third child) of Ossian M. and Mary (Winans) Ross.

In 1821, Harvey Ross moved with his family to Fulton County, Illinois and settled in the area that became Lewistown, which was founded by his father and named for the couple's oldest son, Lewis.

After a brief education in the local log schoolhouses, Harvey Ross was employed at age 15 as a mail carrier along a 135-mile route from Springfield to Monmouth, Illinois.

[10] While he was in California, Harvey Lee Ross was asked by William T. Davidson, editor of the Fulton Democrat, a newspaper published in Lewistown, to write a series of sketches describing Ross' recollections of life in the early pioneering years of Illinois, particularly of Fulton and Sangamon counties.

[5] Included in the book are the author's personal recollections of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, and Peter Cartwright, as well as his own autobiography.