Hotchkiss made his mark in a number of fields including mapmaking, surveying, land and coal speculation, and education.

During the Civil War, Hotchkiss first served under Gen. Robert E. Lee as topographical engineer, and then joined Gen. Stonewall Jackson's staff in the same capacity, soon becoming one of the General's closest aides.

His campaign maps, now housed at the Library of Congress, are considered by Civil War historians to be among the finest ever made.

A large addition to the rear of this original house appears on his 1884 map, and tax records for this period reveal a doubling of assessed building value in 1876 and another significant rise again in 1884.

Assisted by the Boston architectural firm of Winslow & Wetherell, it is believed that much of the credit for the design and detailing of The Oaks goes to Hotchkiss, who supervised its construction very closely until its completion in 1890.

The somewhat restrained facade belies the richness of its interior which features seven magnificent mantelpieces executed by local craftsmen, tongue-and-groove cedar paneling and wainscoting, stained-glass windows, brass lighting fixtures, built-in cupboards, bookshelves, and a unique stand-up desk.

The rather restrained facade is organized into three main bays, and the whole is crowned by a complex hip roof with carved modillion blocks in the cornice.

One is a 2-bay carriage house with segmental-arched openings which have been made rectangular with large concrete lintels; a loft is located under the shed roof.

The library is located in the protruding left bay and features Hotchkiss's unusual stand-up desk, a built-in bookcase covering an entire wall and a nicely paneled mantelpiece with slender, turned colonettes in the overmantel and small display shelves flanking the fireplace opening.

The flooring of the back wing is random-width pine, and all of the woodwork and molding is much simpler than that in the 1888 front section of The Oaks.