Built in the late nineteenth century, it was named a historic site after surviving a massive tornado.

Eli Millen settled in Xenia in 1837, having left South Carolina because of his sense of revulsion toward slavery.

[2] Built of brick on a stone foundation, the Italianate-styled Millen–Schmidt House features elements of sandstone.

[3] Its overall plan is in the shape of the letter "T"; two stories tall, it comprises a three-story rectangular tower with two Second Empire-styled gable-roofed portions that form the rest of the house.

Millen's goal of having "a house that people will notice" remained true over a century after its completion.