A quintessentially typical Providence Greek Revival with interesting detail and an extraordinary history. The design seen here — 2-1/2 story house set pedimented gable end to the street with 3 openings for windows and front door and principal entrance set within a 1-story porch — was formulaic by the time this house was built; hundreds, if not thousands, were built across Providence and Rhode Island in the years between 1825 and 1860. Of interest on the exterior is the porch, with stylized Egyptoid lotus capitals, and the bracketed cornice. The interior follows the side-hall plan, flanked on one side by two parlors; the 1-story section on the south side is a later addition.

Budlong, who built the house and lived in it until 1872, was a principal in the jewelry firm Budlong & Simon, located at 113 South Main Street. He sold the house to Elisha Aldrich, and it remained in the Aldrich family until 1904. Amey Aldrich, who grew up in the house, recalled in her memoir a steady stream through the house of visitors associated with the abolitionist and suffrage movements, including Frederick Douglas (1817-1895), Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910), Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823-1911), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), and Swedish feminist Selma Borg.

— 2006 Festival of Historic Houses Guidebook

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101 James E. Budlong House, c. 1850. Greek Revival-Italianate; 2-1/2 stories; clapboard; pedimented gable roof set end to street bracket cornice; 3 bay facade with off-center entrance in a columned portico with acanthus-leaf capitals; rear ell; set on a high landscaped terrace.

— College Hill National Historic District; 1976