Although built at about the same time, this house is conceptually different from the Blount House (LC51). The central-hall plan has one large room on each side of each of two stories. The general massing and symmetrical arrangement of windows in five bays are Georgian in composition, and the single-story porch has two Greek Doric columns supporting a full entablature. The house, with simple corner boards rather than pilasters, is capped by a dominant entablature and an end-gabled roof. A rear wing was added later, forming a deep L-plan.
One of the several dependencies remaining on site is a small structure used as an office. It is more typically detailed in Greek Revival with a portico and pediment and a hipped roof that puts emphasis on the front pediment.
The house is usually attributed to Augustus Phelps, but HABS documentation from 1936 states that the house was “erected around 1839 by local architect and builder Sidney A. Sweet.” Sweet left San Augustine in 1846, moving to Sabine Pass, where he operated a sawmill. Perhaps Phelps was the principal designer and Sweet was the contractor.
The house was built for land developer Isaac Campbell as a wedding gift to his wife, Elizabeth H. Dye. Following Campbell’s death in 1843, the house was sold to Methodist Wesleyan College. Merchant Matthew Cartwright purchased the house in 1847.