T. J. and Eliza Wilson began construction on the house in 1860, but it was not completed until 1866, after it was sold to Valentine Opp.

Opp was an immigrant from Austria who initially settled in Lowndes County, Alabama, and came to Montgomery after the Civil War.

The house is a raised cottage, built on a sloping lot, with the lower story not visible from the street.

The five-bay façade has a full-width front porch, which originally had ornate fretwork along its balustrade and column brackets.

A small room behind the hall contains a staircase and access to the two-story rear portico (no longer extant).