
Mississippi’s premier example of the Swiss Chalet style derives from a design published in E. C. Gardner’s Illustrated Homes: A Series of Papers Describing Real Houses and Real People (1875). Built for Joseph and Louisa O’Brien, Edelweiss is more elaborate than Gardner’s prototype. A front-gabled roof shelters inset galleries that encircle the house, and a profusion of intricate stickwork fills the upper gable that is supported on bracketed posts. A central semicircular arch with pendant defines the entrance, and a sawn balustrade encloses the encircling galleries and the rear upper-story balcony.