The farm property has become the Janelia Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which surrounds the house.

Robert Pickens was a correspondent for the Associated Press and had written a book on current affairs in 1934, Storm Clouds over Asia.

Vinton Pickens was a professional artist and chairman of Loudoun County's first planning commission, established in 1941.

[3] The house was designed by architect Philip Smith of the Boston firm of Smith and Walker in the Normandy Manor style at the specific requirement of Vinton Pickens, who wished to avoid references to Georgian and Federal style houses that were prevalent in the Loudoun County area.

[3] Smith designed the house in a French country-influenced modernist style, using a reinforced concrete structure faced with brick.

Another set of double doors opens onto the dining room, with a view of the Potomac River through large windows.