The Georgian-style brick mansion was built in 1794, and its architecture has since remained largely unchanged. All four floors conform to the same plan, a center hall and four corner rooms, as was typical of the period. Historic Rock Ford stands on the banks of the Conestoga River, southeast of the center of Lancaster. General Edward Hand and his wife Katherine Hand lived at Rock Ford with their seven children from 1794 until his death in 1802, and then her death in 1805.