[2] The Italianate brick-built house is a two-story structure standing at the corner of Northwest Fifth Street and Richmond Avenue.

The four wings of the cruciform layout incorporate American bond brickwork and cornices that are both bracketed and dentilated.

The first floor of the house was built on a grander scale than the second, with three-sided bay window extensions in both the east and west wings.

Its plans to build a free-standing meeting house on the east side of the property were never realized.

[2] Mary Birdsall lived in the home during the peak of her political and social activist contributions.

Birdsall was the women's editor for the Indiana Farmer magazine until she bought The Lily in 1855 from Amelia Bloomer.

Thomas, a successful businessman who was an active supporter of the Richmond's temperance society, died in 1901.