Seth Paull was a local lumber merchant, and his exuberant house is typical of those built by ambitious building tradesmen. The complicated full-width front porch and the sweeping sunbonnet gable, juxtaposed with the steep candlesnuffer corner tower, are self-conscious embellishments to an otherwise contained cubical mass and traditional center-hall plan. They also exult in the material and products that made Paull's fortune. Prominently sited on the town's main street, this is a house that says not only “Look at me!” but also “Buy my wares!”