Built for John Stewart of Brook Hill and designed by a Providence, Rhode Island, architect, this brick and stone church is one of the most sophisticated buildings in Henrico County for the period. It is Gothic Revival in style, with a tower that shows the influence of William Butterfield and of English design on American architects in the 1850s. The Emmanuel Memorial Parish House (1910) stands nearby. Adjacent to the parklike setting of the church is the Wilmer Avenue Historic Area, which includes late nineteenth-century cottages associated with the Ginter estate (reputedly the gardeners' houses), along with later bungalows and Foursquare houses.