The mansion was built on the corner of Court and High Street (now Martin Luther King Boulevard)[3] in 1888 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 1972.

Scott operated a beauty school out of the first floor of the mansion while keeping the upper levels as her private residence.

The federal government contributed an additional $1.5 million.,[8] but after a decade of work, plans to turn the house into an African-American cultural center were frozen by the city's Municipal Council, which refused to allocate any more money for the project.

A wrap around porch, steeply pitched roof, asymmetrical facade and arched front entryway are characteristic of the Queen Anne Style.

In late 2020, the city and the company Makerhoods broke ground on refurbishing the mansion into live/work spaces for local experienced "makers" in the food, beauty, craft and other small-scale artisan industries for $1800 a month by application only.