The house was designed by noted architect Mary Otis Stevens along with her partner and husband Thomas McNulty.

The roof had varying levels and numerous skylights, in ellipses, circles, half-moons, and ribbons.

At the back of the house, it partially enclosed a circular patio, which had a raised ledge for seating.

[2] The house had no interior doors, instead relying on free-standing curvilinear walls and a lesser degree of privacy.

The upper level was for the parents' sleeping and baths, and so their children learned only to come upstairs upon invitation.

The ceilings and floors interlocked at different levels, providing aesthetics to be appreciated by adults and an "indestructible playground" for the architects' three young children.

The gray walls were relatively unadorned, kept with rough concrete with subtle vertical lines.

The Lincoln House had spartan qualities to it, including small plain bathrooms, narrow closets, and unadorned spaces.

According to Stevens, there was a fierce rejection of modernism at the time, and numerous modernist buildings were being demolished across the country.