Riverlawn was designed and built by Heron Murray in 1874, and has served alternately as a vacation home and full-time private family residence since. The house is located near Williams Wharf in Mathews County on a scenic lot overlooking the East River. Riverlawn functioned most notably as the home of Mathews County treasurer and commissioner, John J. Burke III, who resided there with his wife from 1917 to 1931. While Burke lived there, he was active in local and regional finance and politics, served as director of the Bank of Mathews and was the publisher of the Mathews Journal. The late-19th-century exterior and interior design and details of the house remained unchanged until 1929 when J.J. Burke made the only substantial alterations.