The Carson house presents a three-story French Second Empire design, with a central hall and a single low tower. Within the front porch, which runs across the front of the house, is a wonderfully overscaled arched entrance. The entrance, with its wide surround of stone, counters the domestic scale of the porch. This sense of grandness is carried over to the surrounds for the three front windows. Those to the side have concave frames surmounted by broad convex lintels. The center window seems to place its energy in its elaborate lintel complete with its own cornice.