The house was built in 1922 by prominent citizens Joseph Dozier Boushall and Mattie Boushall. J. D. was chief clerk to the state auditor, member of the Raleigh board of aldermen (now called the city council), member of the N.C. House of Representatives, senior deacon of the First Baptist Church, treasurer of the Baptist State Convention, trustee of Meredith College, and commander of the American Legion. His wife Mattie was the daughter of Jonathan M. Heck, developer of much of the Oakwood and Idlewild neighborhoods.

The Boushall House was the first house built in the Mordecai Place development, and the finest house built in this development. The development began at Cedar St., and the Boushalls chose the most prominent lot in the development to build their grand home.

Most importantly, the Boushall house is a magnificent piece of architecture, Raleigh’s finest example of the last phase of the Neoclassical Revival, with its gorgeous semi-elliptical front porch supported by Corinthian columns, its balcony, and its beveled glass windows. The house and its landscape has been beautifully preserved for 90 years, in the loving hands of Arthur Danielson for the past 36 years.

The home is located in the Mordecai Community.

Historic Mordecai Park Purchase

January 2012, the Raleigh City Council gave approval for staff to move forward with the purchase of the home for the purpose of housing the Historic Mordecai Park's Interpretive Center.