In 1890 three talented professionals teamed up to design and build the house at 1207 Union St. in Alameda — architect Charles Shaner and builders David Brehaut and J. C. Diamond. These men had a hand in designing or building more than 80 homes during the Victorian era in Alameda. 

The neighborhood was once part of Dr. James Hibbard’s property — land that he dubbed “The Town of Encinal and the Lands Adjacent.” Hibbard laid out his town in 1854, naming all the north-south streets for fish. Today’s Union Street bore the name “Pike Street.”