Completed in 1909, the Walter C. Hartmann House is one of the distinguished residences that helped establish Boston-Edison as Detroit's premier neighborhood for business leaders and professionals. Designed by the renowned architectural firm Smith, Hinchman & Grylls, the home reflects the elegance and craftsmanship that defined Detroit's finest residential architecture of the early twentieth century.

The house remains an important contributor to the Boston-Edison Historic District, one of the nation's largest collections of early twentieth-century homes. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 5, 1975.