The Gould-Shaw House Museum is the oldest documented dwelling in Cloverdale. Its facade appears today much as it did in the 1870s.  The house is a rare Sonoma County example of a Gothic Revival Cottage, an architectural style of the Victorian era. Its significance was recognized as early as 1877 in the Atlas of Sonoma County which described it as one of the finest residences in Cloverdale.

The house exemplifies some of the less common elements of Gothic Revival. It is front- rather than side-gabled, with boxed cornices and rafters and is of brick construction.  The brick was manufactured locally and laid in the American Common Bond pattern with flush mortar joints. The walls were double brick with every 7th row turned to lock with the parallel wall, a technique called the "King's Row."  Unique to the period were the hand-forged square nails used in the framing and roof construction. The decorative wood-cut ornamentation was made possible by the newly perfected scroll saw.