Edwards was built of Trenton brownstone trimmed with lighter sandstone. Its most unusual feature was the pair of arched entrances found in the base of the square towers at the north and south ends of the building.

Students were initially skeptical of the new dormitory. The Daily Princetonian wrote, "The interior arrangements seem to us pretty well suited to secure the comfort and convenience of the occupants, provided the latter can make themselves at home in comparatively small rooms and are not too fond of currents of air."

A decade later, the Daily Princetonian was even more direct. "Edwards Hall is a trite and old-fashioned subject for discussion...Naturally dark and dirty, the Hall is made the object on many contemelious [sic] remarks, and the general opinion is that it takes courage backed up by more or less impecunious circumstances to spend a year or more in those dark and dusty entries."

Today, by contrast, Edwards is among the most desirable addresses on campus. Convenient to academic buildings and with its single rooms in great demand, Edwards has been the private domain of upperclassmen for more than 20 years. Rooms in Edwards became even more attractive following an extensive renovation in 1985, during which the firm of Fulmer and Wolfe raised the intermediate roof to create a fifth floor, capped the towers with pyramidal roofs, and removed the exterior fire escapes. These efforts won Wolfe and Fulmer an Excellence in Architecture Award from the New Jersey Society of Architects in 1986.