McHenry hired Jeremiah Robinson, a Stockton contractor, to design and construct the mansion.

The mansion was constructed in the High Victorian Italianate style that was popular at the time.

With the death of Matilda in 1896, their son Oramil McHenry moved into the mansion with his wife Louise and their three children.

Myrtie inherited the McHenry Mansion following Oramil's death in 1906 from stomach cancer.

In 2011 the front of the mansion was damaged in a major fire and has since been restored to its original state.