Parish House was built in 1912 as the private home of Fred Burnett Hill, class of 1900, and Deborah Sayles Hill. (The couple also donated the money to build Sayles-Hill Gymnasium.) Originally, the house had a private gymnasium, a pool hall, and tennis courts. A large dining room and kitchen complex occupied much of the first floor. The west side of the ground floor included the living room, Professor Hill's study, and a large library. Family and guest rooms were on the second floor. Servants' quarters were on the third floor.

Following Professor Hill's death in 1919, Mrs. Hill sold the propterty to the Northfield Methodists, who moved their church to the lawn east of the house. The mansion was used as a "parish house" and church school.

In 1963 Carleton bought all the Methodist property on the block: the parish house, the old church, the parsonage, and the garage in back, for a price of $62,500. For a time in the mid-'60s, space in Parish House was rented to the Northfield public schools for use as classroom space, pending completion of the new high school.

After the Methodist congregation moved to their new building in 1966, the old church was demolished. Carleton remodeled Parish House into a dormitory. It was first used as the Men's Language House for students beginning in 1967, and in 1970 became a co-ed general residence for upperclassmen. In 1996, after extensive renovations, it once again became a house for students interested in foreign languages and cultures.