Washington & Jefferson College is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, which is located in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to the American frontier in the 1780s: John McMillan, Thaddeus Dod, and Joseph Smith. These early schools eventually grew into two competing academies and colleges, with Canonsburg Academy, later Jefferson College, located in Canonsburg and Washington Academy, later Washington College, in Washington. These two colleges merged in 1865 to form Washington & Jefferson College.
The Office of the President is located in McMillan Hall, which is the oldest building on campus, dating to 1793. Prior to 1912, the Office of the President was located in Old Main, taking the two rooms on either side of that building's main entrance. The President's House is a 17-room Victorian mansion on East Wheeling Street between the U. Grant Miller Library and The Burnett Center. It was built in 1892 by the Duncan family and is an archetypical Queen Anne Victorian style building, with ornate "gingerbread" details, stained and beveled glass, recessed doors and windows, and louvered wooden shutters.