This large brick mansion stands close to the road and White Day Creek near the boundary between Monongalia and Marion counties. The homestead is the product of several building campaigns, the earliest represented by the fivebay facade with Federal style fanlight over the central entrance. The cornice, with double reverse-curve brackets evenly spaced between every three modillions, dates from the 1850s, when the house was enlarged and embellished with Italianate details. An enormous wooden belvedere standing guard over the hipped roof dates from the same time. Portions of the sides and rear were earlier alterations, dating from the 1840s.

An impressive antebellum house for its time and place, this ancestral home of the Watson family remained in the hands of the builder's heirs until 1937. The Watsons were largely responsible for the development of Marion County's coalfields, and Fairmont contains numerous examples of the family's affluence (see WesBanco, formerly the Watson Building [
MA7], and High Gate [
MA12]). A two-story log house to the east of the homestead was moved to the site in the 1980s.