The Mitchell-Rountree House reflects the migration of southerners to the mining district of the new Wisconsin territory. Virginia native Reverend Samuel Mitchell built this stone residence in the Georgian manner that was typical of the Tidewater region but rare in Wisconsin. During the British colonial period, the most common type of house was a one-story cottage with end chimneys. As fashion shifted in the eighteenth century, many people updated their cottages with gabled dormers and double-hung sashes. The Mitchell-Rountree House appears to be a version of that amalgam. The one-and-a-half-story house is constructed of dolomite, a yellow limestone, laid in random ashlar and fitted closely. The facade is symmetrical, with two double-hung windows flanking a central entrance. The five-light transom over the paneled double doors is characteristic of Georgian architecture, as is the trio of pedimented dormers. A single-story ell to the rear houses the kitchen and dining room.
Tradition holds that Major John H. Rountree, who founded Platteville, built this house for Mitchell, his father-in-law. Later, it became the home of Rountree’s daughter, Laura Rountree Smith, an author of children’s stories. It now serves as a museum operated by the Grant County Historical Society.