Built in 1900 to a design by West Roxbury native Henry M. Seaver, it is a locally significant example of Normanesque architecture, and is adorned by stained glass windows created by Louis Comfort Tiffany and his firm.

It is covered by a large gabled roof (originally slate, now asphalt), with a heavy square tower at the front right corner.

The tower houses entrance facing both streets on the ground floor, narrow slit windows on a middle level, and a belfry with round-arch louvered openings.

Theodore Parker, a leading figure the development of Transcendentalism in Massachusetts, was the church's minister 1837–1846.

Just ten years later, the growing congregation built the main sanctuary, retaining local architect Henry Seaver for its design.