This modest Victorian was built early in the twentieth century, shortly after the great quake, by a family of red foxes who relocated from the leveled city into the area. Incorporating elements from both Queen Anne and Edwardian versions of the style, it clearly was a custom design, possibly by the original owner. However, his entrepreneurial aspirations ran aground in bankruptcy shortly before the Great War, and he was forced to default on a loan for which the house was collateral. He left with his wife and children for parts unknown, and the prominent local ursine family who held the lien found themselves with the deed. As the house was designed for folk of middling size, it was unsuitable even as a legacy for a scion of the bear family—but it was too valuable simply to abandon. The decision was made to rent out the house as an interim measure. Between inertia and the generation of steady revenue, however, what began as a stopgap became more or less permanent.

Shown is the ground floor as originally built. While indoor plumbing was becoming more available in urban neighborhoods, rural homes still largely depended on outhouses. Parts of the first floor were electrified after the house passed into the hands of its new owners, but only haphazardly, and a telephone eventually was installed as well.