The Guthrie House presents such a complexity of roof angles and interior spaces that it suggests accretions over time. The eastern portion of the house was originally a saltbox built in 1870. The western end of the house was later added to the saltbox. Porches appear on all sides of the house. The northwestern corner of the Guthrie House is an assortment of ad hoc additions.

Because the juncture of the saltbox roof and the hipped gable roof of the western portion of the Guthrie House create such a complexity of roof lines and valleys atypical to building construction, it is probable that the western portion of the house was either added to the saltbox or was, itself, a complete building moved to the site and attached to the saltbox.

The western end of the house, which probably dates around 1890, has a hipped porch roof supported by five lathe turned posts.

Source: Adapted from the NRHP nomination submitted in 1980.

When we photographed the Samuel Guthrie House, it housed the Cambria Historical Museum.