Built by Eleazer Arnold in 1693, the Arnold House is a rare surviving example of a "stone-ender," a once common building type with roots found in the western part of England. With a fieldstone end wall and pilastered chimney, the Arnold House was built as a two-and-a-half-story structure with an integral lean-to and four rooms on each floor. A front gable once topped the structure. The result was a much grander dwelling than the typical Rhode Island stone-ender.

Donated to Historic New England in 1919 by Preserved Whipple Arnold, the house has undergone two phases of restoration. In 1920, noted preservationist Norman Isham directed a stabilization of the building, and thirty years later Historic New England staff undertook a second, and more ambitious, restoration.

It was during the 1950 work that the decision was made to remove later alterations and return the building to its seventeenth-century appearance. Since the house had been updated during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many early architectural features were missing and had to be fabricated. Among these were diamond-paned casement windows and interior paneling. Today, the house is a remarkable reminder of Rhode Island’s early settlement period.