A Belgium-born furniture maker, Winand Toussant immigrated to this country in 1854 and for many years operated a manufacturing business adjacent to the Boston & Worcester Railroad and the Charles River in Brookline. In later years he practiced architecture out of his idiosyncratic home, which presumably he designed. Although seemingly square on the exterior, each corner of the one-story mansarded house is canted to accommodate a modified octagon floor plan. The cupola aligns with each outside corner of the house, one of which provides the main entrance. The exterior Stick Style trim includes corner balconies supported on angled brackets.