Well known as the former residence of Reuben Davis, a prominent attorney, statesman, and author, the property has important historical connections for both the town of Aberdeen and Mississippi.

However, the prosperity and economic growth declined after 1850 when the Mobile and Ohio Railway Company constructed a line eight miles west of the town.

Prior to her death, she had requested that her body be laid in state on top of the grand piano in her parlor and surrounded with roses; a wish which was honored.

The U.S. Department of the Interior added Sunset Hill (listed as the Reuben Davis House) to The National Register of Historic Places in November 1978.

The architecture of Sunset Hill is described with great detail in the National Register Form:[8] The Reuben Davis House is a two-story frame residence situated prominently on the south side of Commerce Street, just west of the Aberdeen town center.

Further articulating the five bays of the north wall are paneled pilasters, two of which flank the central frontispiece entrance inspired by Plate 28 of Asher Benjamin's The Practical House Carpenter.

The portico is crowned by a low-rise metal-seamed hip roof with ridge pole running east-west, perpendicular to twin hip-roof extensions which share a central valley on the east and west sides of the rear section of the house.

On the east elevation the side gallery extends out from the main house, with two chimneys rising on the north and south ends of the rear section.

The south (rear) elevation has a one-story gable-roof children's nursery with an exterior end chimney at the west corner of the facade.

A carriage house, barn, and slaves' cabins were located south of the residence in an area now subdivided and occupied by several smaller homes.

Benjamin-meander fretwork on the pilasters of the frontispiece entrance is repeated on the two Asher Benjamin-inspired chimney pieces in the north and south parlors on the east side.

The first-floor chimney pieces on the west side of the house vary considerably: that in the north room has a projecting, flat-faced pediment with acroteria supporting the shelf; the one in the south room features simple wood trim and curved shelf; and the smaller-scale nursery chimney piece is enriched with an inset four-pointed arch, imposts, pilasters, and bases.