The Right House, designed by the Hamilton architectural firm of William Stewart & Co. was built between the years of 1890-1893, by Thomas C. Watkins, the founder and driving force behind the enterprise that has lasted over 140 years. At the time of its opening, the Right House was considered to be among the finest and most expensive stores in the city, carrying a large selection of dry goods, carpets, household furnishings, under garments, and fancy goods. They also manufactured dresses, shirts, hats and mantis. The Garrick Club, a Hamilton amateur theatre company was once located in the Right House.

Architecturally, it signaled a departure from the complex forms of the High Victorian style to a simpler, more functional design. The Right House, originally a dry goods store, was located on the Gore, in keeping with the city’s tradition of viewing the Gore as the commercial centre of the city.

The store’s retail space occupied four floors or 86,648 square feet of space; while the fifth and sixth floors housed offices and a receiving room. The building had many fashionable features: running arcades, columns and stone arches, contemporary pressed metal work which provided the crowning ornamentation to the eaves and parapet (which is now gone). Of particular significance were the south and east facades of the exterior and the cast iron columns on the first floor of the interior. The building came to be known as the "Crystal Palace" due to the extensive use of plate glass. The building was fireproof. In 1910 an addition of a seventh floor and basement were added. Stylistically, the arcaded facades, the bracketed overhanging eaves and the contrasting banding, continued the Victorian tradition of looking into the past for inspiration. The building is an example of early reinforced concrete.

The interior ceiling heights measured an impressive 18 feet. The building was Hamilton’s first skyscraper of the 1890s and is the last nineteenth century department store to survive. The store was the first in Hamilton to install private telephone exchange connections with all departments, the first department store to accept gradual-payment basis (credit) for furniture, and the first to establish and guarantee "good satisfaction or your money refunded". They were also pioneers in the implementation of a delivery system, and in the use of multi-page advertisements. The Right House was of the first to employ female clerks and of the first to host a fashion show with a promenade of living models. The store also had writing rooms, rest rooms trimmed with polished Italian marble, and an emergency ward complete with a bed. The main floor was illuminated by over 150 Canadian Tungsten lamps. Today, all the exterior windows above the ground floor have been closed in.

The Right House had close connections with European manufacturers and style creators. Professional buyers, stationed in Europe and New York, purchased goods that were imported making The Right House a favorite both at home and abroad for high quality merchandise at reasonable prices. The success of the store and their continual pursuit of improved customer satisfaction were reflected in their motto of "Onward toward betterment"

Following the death of Watkins in 1903, his sons and later his grandsons took over the business. The store remained a family enterprise until 1909. It was later sold and fell under the control of Mercantile Stores but the name remained the same.

The history of the building is steeped in a rich history of undetermined fiction or fantasy. Operations manager, Mary Pocius believes that the ghost of Thomas Watkins, former owner, remains present in the building. As the story goes, the Otis elevator car, which was locked in the basement each night would be found on the fifth floor by morning. The elevator, in order to move from the basement to any other floor, required a key. Popular opinion and that of Mary maintain that it must have been the ghost of Thomas that moved the elevator to the fifth floor where his office was once located. In addition, the history of the store is associated with a burglary. In 1923, the store was broken into and thieves ran off with a large sum of money. The watchman was handcuffed during the robbery. It was believed that escaped convicts from the Kingston Penitentiary were responsible for the robbery.

On August 19, 1948, the property of the Right House changed hands at an estimated cost of $862,000. The store then underwent renovations and became the first of Hamilton’s downtown department stores to install air conditioning.

Due to strikes, the loss of downtown business to Limeridge Mall, a poor economy and a bus strike, the store suffered greatly and eventually closed on January 3, 1983, leaving 179 employees without work. At the time, the store was owned and operated by the New York based Mercantile Stores. The store remained vacant until purchased by Gorham Development Limited. President, Sam Matsos, a Hamilton native, in association with Michael Stapleford, lovingly restored the Right House to its original splendor. Francis, a wholly owned subsidiary of Industrial Services of Sividon, held the mortgages on the property which was valued at $1,000,000. The architectural restoration was designed and carried out by Trevor P. Garwood Jones and the building was soon recognized under the Ontario Heritage Act as a historically significant building. The original cast iron columns were restored and became a feature of the restored building. It was then renamed Park Place. The store and building were then opened as a mall in September of 1989. All the employees were invited to attend. Champagne, complete with a "Park Place" label, was served at the reopening event.

The new mall soon confronted significant problems. First, the store was surrounded by many discount stores (Kresge’s and Woolworth’s) which, it is assumed, discouraged the wealthier customers from shopping. In addition, the steel town proved unready for such an upscale mall.

Some time later, much of the retail area was taken over by three children’s clothing stores and a children’s bookstore. It was hoped that an association with children and their needs would improve upon the previous troubles experienced by the mall. A toddlers play area was implemented and the pretence of being an upscale indoor shopping arcade disappeared.