The stone construction, round arches, and the steeply pitched and tiled roof of this house are reminiscent of H. H. Richardson's work. Its prominent site on Ridgway's main street fits the social standing of Elizabeth Hyde, widow of William H. Hyde of the Hyde-Murphy Company, which had, by then, been in operation for nearly thirty years and had built thousands of area houses from coal patch workers' housing to mansions. Commissioned a few years after William Hyde's death, it is probable his wife or her sons asked the company's architect, Henry C. Park, to design it. The living room is finished in curly birch paneling complemented by Italian fireplace tiles, and lavish hardwoods throughout both public and private rooms illustrate the range of the company's woodworking skills.