Designed by architect Frank M. Leech, and built by Lima businessman Frank Banta, the house is an example of Victorian Shingle-Style architecture.  It measures 78 feet long and 43 feet wide.  It contains three floors and seventeen rooms.  The third floor was originally a billiard room but was later converted into a ballroom.  Banta was inspired by a home he had seen in Toledo and relayed its features to Leech during the design process.

In 1897, Banta traded houses with former oil magnate John W. Van Dyke and the latter owned the home until 1915.  It was purchased by William F. Hoover, a furniture retailer, at a price of $15,000 to $20,000.  The house was purchased by Elizabeth M. MacDonell in 1932 and passed to her son, James, upon her death in 1942.

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