Built in 1768, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 as one of the finest Late Georgian houses in the United States.

[2] The mansion is a large wooden house in the Georgian style, with imitation stone ashlar facade, built in 1768 by Colonel Jeremiah Lee, at that time the wealthiest merchant and ship owner in the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

It contains a notable collection of early American furniture, and many of the mansion's original decorative finishes have been preserved, including rare 18th-century English hand-painted wallpaper, intricate carving in the rococo style, and a grand entry hall and staircase paneled with mahogany.

On either side of its landing are copies of the full-length portraits of Jeremiah and Martha Lee by John Singleton Copley.

This article about a National Register of Historic Places listing in Essex County, Massachusetts, is a stub.