The house is one of the largest residences built in East Texas prior to the Civil War. Carpenter James L. Howard and brick mason David P. Howard from Virginia, who settled in Henderson in 1850, constructed the house using bricks (the first brick structure in the town) and woodwork manufactured on the site. Greek Revival features include the full-width, double-height porch of tapered, boxed Tuscan columns and an entablature. The hipped roof extends over the porch. A cantilevered second floor balcony passes uninterrupted behind the columns, enhancing the monumental scale of the colonnade. The house has one room each side of a central hall on each floor and a basement, unusual for East Texas. Behind the house was the Howards’ brick kiln that provided materials for many buildings in Henderson.
Kate Dickinson bought the house in 1905 and added the rear wing. The house was restored in 1967 by Kangerga, great-grandson of one of Henderson’s early citizens, and is currently used by the Rusk County Heritage Association as a museum and community center.