[1] The brownstone exterior, elaborate interior design, opulent furnishings and early technological conveniences provide a detailed portrait of lavish living in nineteenth-century America.

Due to donations by the Libby family, 97 percent of the original contents survive, including Herter furniture, elaborate wall paintings, artworks, carpets, gas lighting fixtures, stained glass, porcelain, silver, and glassware.

[2] The house has twin sinks in the guest bedroom on the second floor; a Turkish smoking room, which is one of the first example of Islamic architecture in the United States; carved marble fireplaces; and a flying staircase.

[5] The house used some of the latest technologies of the era (some of which he also took from his hotels), such as central heating, gas lighting, hot and cold running water, and a servant call system.

A year later, the house and its contents were sold by his wife to Joseph Ralph Libby, a Portland merchant and department store owner.