Built between 1847 and 1856 by John Brooks, a prominent local farmer and politician, it is one of a small number of 19th-century farmhouses still standing in the city.

[2] The John Brooks House is located in a basically residential area in northern Worcester, on a large lot at the northwest corner of Nelson Place and Grove Street (Massachusetts Route 122A).

The south facade distinctively has three large gables which rise to nearly meet the main ridge line, with rake edges adorned by paired Italianate brackets.

A single-story hip-roofed enclosed porch extends across part of this facade, with an entrance at the far right sheltered by an ornately carved hood.

[2] John Brooks, a Princeton native and farmer, purchased land here in 1847, and is believed to have built the ell of the house by 1851.