This imposing, somewhat austere house is possibly the most sophisticated residential design in Cumberland up to its time. The five window bays, with generous six-over-six sash, are evenly distributed over an expansive front. The entrance is broad and quite severe in its restricted ornamentation: plain pilasters supporting a cushioned entablature, which is surmounted by a pediment. The Jillson House proclaims a concern for propriety and impressiveness, so different from the beguiling idiosyncracies of the nearby Miller House. No cabinetmaker participated here. The master builder prevailed. The same handsome proportions and severity of treatment characterize the Jillson interior (not open to the public), which has a broad central hall with rooms front and back on either side and chimneys centered in the wall between them. Fragments of stenciled patterns discovered in upstairs bedrooms have been reconstructed by Shirley Houde Armstrong. A rear ell attached to an Italianate tower is obviously from the mid-nineteenth century.