Set on spacious grounds now surrounded by commercial development, this symmetrically composed, formally arranged brick house seems an anomaly in its current setting. The three central bays of the five-bay facade rise above the second floor to form a gabled pavilion. Washington architect Harding obtained the commission when Herman Guy Kump was mayor of Elkins. Kump became West Virginia's nineteenth governor in 1933 and led the state with distinction during the height of the Depression.