[2] A Catholic clergyman, John McClean, arranged for the house to be built; however, he sold it to Richard Douglas, a local lawyer, before construction was complete.

The recorded oral history of a former worker at the residence sets forth that Dr. Douglas hid numerous escaped slaves in the attic, making many trips late at night to the next stop with them hidden within the hay wagon.

The house's most prominent resident was William Edwin Safford, who lived there as a boy; growing to adulthood, he developed a strong reputation as a leading naturalist in the islands of the South Pacific Ocean, and he was later appointed to be the first Vice-Governor of Guam after the United States conquered the island in 1898.

[2] Among its details are multiple pillared porches featuring capitals of the Ionic order, an ornate frieze above the windows, and some elements of the Italianate style that was only just beginning to come into popularity in the middle of the nineteenth century.

[2]Tanglewood may have been named for the hundreds of feet of Virginia Creeper, ivy and grape vines which twist their way through the surrounding woods.