Smaller than later homes in the area, this English-influenced brick cottage with Carpenter's Gothic trim was constructed by Winfield Scott Stratton, a carpenter who later became a mining millionaire. George Summers, a Philadelphian, designed this first substantial house in Colorado Springs for Major Henry McAllister, Sr., a Civil War assistant to General Palmer who was later recruited to direct the Colorado Springs Company. Major McAllister not only landscaped his own property but planted some 5,000 cottonwoods along the ditches bordering Cascade Avenue and other streets of the bare prairie village.
After facing winds in Colorado Springs powerful enough to derail trains, McAllister insisted on double-thick walls of Philadelphia brick, the local brick at the time being too soft and crumbly. The steep, clipped gable roof, tiny dormer, prominent bays, and stone quoins, lintels, and sills distinguish this quaint dwelling. One of the three oldest residences in the Pikes Peak region, it may be the only remaining residential work by George Summers. The El Pomar Foundation purchased the home for the Colonial Dames of Colorado, who operate it as a house museum.