With a carriage house to the north, the Hoatson house is situated on four full lots. The Classical Revival styling, huge size, elaborate finishing, and lavish interior furnishings are fitting for Thomas H. Hoatson's position as a prominent and esteemed citizen of Laurium. A giant Corinthian portico with flanking one-story porches pushes out from the center front of the large three-story clapboarded house. Inside, the reception, library, living, and dining rooms of the first floor are arranged off a large main hall, from which a grand staircase rises to the second-floor bedrooms. Servants' bedrooms and a ballroom are on the third floor. The Hoatsons sent to Maxwell, Forbes and Stillman, Decorators and Furnishers, in Milwaukee for the interior furnishings.

Hoatson was the general manager of the Keweenaw Copper Company, a founder of the Calumet and Arizona Mining Company, and officer in several mining companies. He served as president of the Calumet State Bank and a director of the First National Bank. The Hoatsons and their six children spent the summer at their cottage on the shores of Lake Superior, but occupied this spacious modern house in the winter.