[3] John McCaffrey was Irish and born in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1842.

His first boat was the Alvira and he bought interests in the James Means and the Le Claire Belle.

[2] The house is capped by a low hipped roof with a plain, unbracketed, wooden cornice.

The single-story screened porch on the south side and the chimney of rock on the rear are later additions.

The house is located on a corner lot that is raised above the street, and it has a stone retaining wall on east and south sides.