Built in 1879 for a local merchant, it is a distinctive and architecturally varied house, with elements of the Second Empire, Queen Anne, and Stick styles on display.

The Martin L. Kelsey House stands just north of downtown Burlington, on the west side of Elmwood between Pearl and Grant Streets in a mixed residential-commercial area.

Ells of decreasing size and height extend to the rear of the house, which is set on a small parcel now surrounded by parking lots.

Its dormers have steeply pitched gabled roofs, with elaborate Stick style decoration, and whose windows are framed by Italianate moulding.

[2] The house was built in 1879, in what was at the time a fashionable residential area north of Burlington's main commercial business district.