The house is a relatively large "stone-ender," a building type brought from the western part of England and used most commonly in northern Rhode Island. This geographic-specific aspect may have been due to the attribution of the work to John Smith "the Mason" of Smithfield, Rhode Island and his family. It was built two stories in height, with four rooms on each floor, a lean-to, exposed fieldstone end-walls, wooden side-walls, and a pilastered chimney. By the 20th century, a gable had been added to the structure.
In 1919 the house was donated to Historic New England (then the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities) by Preserved Whipple Arnold. It has since undergone two phases of restoration. In 1920 the first stabilization efforts were led by Norman Isham; and in 1950 the house and chimney received a thorough structural rehabilitation. In this second restoration, later alterations were removed to return the building to its 17th-century appearance.
Today the building closely resembles its form during the early settlement in Rhode Island, though some details, including the leaded glass windows and the front door and its surround, are 20th-century replacements.
^ ab"Eleazor Arnold House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2008.
