It is a two-story brick building set well above the street, from which a retaining wall and steep terraced landscaping separate it.

The house is a large L-shaped structure with a brick front section and a rear wood-frame addition.

The front portion of the house was built in stages, with the initial structure of 1836 consisting of a main hall and flanking parlors, with a porch (probably smaller but more architecturally elaborate than the present one) sheltering the entrance.

[3] The Willises sold the house in 1886, and in 1890 it was bought by Mary Cowan, the wife of a Confederate veteran who died two years later.

Cowan died in 1914, and her estate sold it to the Sisters of Mercy, who operated a convent and school across the street.