After founding a furniture company in Cincinnati in 1836, he built his business into a prosperous firm, and by the 1890s, he was wealthy enough to build the present house as a gift for his son Richard.

[2] When the family left, the building was acquired by St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, which converted it into premises for the parish school.

Other Hannaford structures combined elements of different styles in an eclectic manner,[3]: 12  including the Mitchell House.

[3]: 11 Two and a half stories tall, the Mitchell House is built of stone throughout, with large ashlar blocks employed for the walls.

[2] In 1980, the Richard H. Mitchell House was among dozens of Hannaford-designed buildings in Hamilton County listed together on the National Register of Historic Places as a multiple property submission.