Constructed ca. 1870, the Ensor-Keenan House is a representative example of Columbia’s post–Civil War residential architecture and reflects the city’s rebuilding and expansion during the late nineteenth century. The residence exhibits the scale, proportions, and traditional detailing associated with substantial Victorian-era houses of the period. Its domestic form and architectural character illustrate the transition from antebellum traditions toward the more eclectic residential styles that became common in Columbia during the Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction eras.

The house is significant for its association with Columbia’s residential development during the late nineteenth century and for its contribution to the city’s historic architectural landscape. Built only a few years after the Civil War, the Ensor-Keenan House represents the renewal of private residential construction during a period of major physical and economic change. Its continued presence provides a tangible link to Columbia’s nineteenth-century neighborhoods and helps document the evolution of domestic architecture in the city during the decades following the war.