Borst from New York, who became a commonwealth attorney and was a founder of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad, designed his Greek Revival house and one of his daughters named it for one of Rome's seven hills. The porch columns derive from Tower of the Winds in Athens and along with a Doric entablature, door surround, and squared cupola lend the center-passage house a grandeur unlike any other building in town. Formerly located on the prominent hillside property now occupied by the Mimslyn Inn (PG5), the house was moved to its present location in 1937.