It was designated a National Historic Landmark for its association with revolutionary textile manufacturer Nathan Appleton (1779–1861), and as the site in 1843 of the wedding of his daughter Frances and poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

The door to each unit occupied the center bay and is framed by a wooden surround and topped by a fanlight; a Doric portico provides shelter.

The rounded bays of number 39 were altered in the 1880s by the addition of a third window on each level, and what were originally single-story servant wings in the rear of each unit were extended and raised to three stories by later owners.

In 1819, Nathan Appleton and business partner Daniel Pinckney Parker bought a house that had been standing on the property and tore it down.

[4] Appleton was one of the great financial minds behind the early industrialization of New England, funding the Boston Manufacturing Company and developing a strategy for selling its products.