Andrews, Jaques and Rantoul specialized in large sprawling houses in suburban communities around Boston—of which the Joseph Brewer House is one of the best preserved—and in houses in summer colonies, like Bar Harbor, Maine. The firm had a particular affinity for rustic compositions with naturalistic landscaping, here designed by Joseph H. Curtis. The use of rubble stone and wood shingles that Robert Andrews and Herbert Jaques had learned in the office of H. H. Richardson continued to be part of their architectural vocabulary well into the twentieth century. So, too, did the curvilinear configuration of this house with a polygonal stair tower and rustic porte-cochere. The house stands at the end of a long drive off Canton Avenue, which is now lined with later houses.