The property represented a virtually intact and well-preserved early 20th-century farmstead of rural Maine, and was stylistically distinctive because not very much new farm construction took place at that time in the state.

He transferred his property, a successful operation which included a small dairy herd and a flock of sheep, to his son John O. Burgess in stages between 1860 and 1877.

[3] Both the house and barn built by the Burgesses included recent innovations not found in many farms in rural Maine, because agriculture was generally in decline.

The barn was a large structure with a gambrel roof, a western innovation that improved hay storage capacity, and the larger number of milking stations indicated that the farm was shifting to an increased emphasis in dairy production.

A single-story hip-roofed porch, supported by Tuscan columns, spanned the front and wraps around to one side.