Commodore James Iredell Waddell was a Confederate naval officer who had graduated from the nearby U.S. Naval Academy in 1847 and lived in England during the years following the Civil War. Upon returning to Annapolis he is said to have modeled his new house on an early example of English Queen Anne he and his wife admired in Liverpool. The long brick structure has multiple cross gables topped by finials and wide eaves, but primarily horizontal lines. Perhaps most striking are the robust turned columns at the front porch and sash windows with grids of small square lights. Many interior features such as a stair hall with an elaborately carved newel post and fireplaces with decorative ceramic tile friezes are still intact. After being used as a fraternity house for St. John’s College and then apartments, the Waddell House was restored to a single-family residence.