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As a boy, Robert J. Baird (born 08/1859 in Vinland, WI) lived on a farm in rural Winnebago County, WI, and from this agricultural background he may have developed an interest in horticulture. He became the proprietor of the Van Nuys Nursery Company sometime between 1910-1920. His first wife was Ottie Belle Jones (born c. 06/1869 in PA-died 1920 in Altadena, CA), whom he married in Fond du Lac, WI, in 1891. Together, they raised a son, George R. Baird (1905-1952). The Bairds, lived a transitory existence; he changed jobs periodically, and they moved frequently, living in Duluth, MN, in 1905, Pasadena, CA, in 1910 and Los Angeles, CA, in 1920; Ottie died on 05/17/1920, and Robert remarried quickly. By 1922, he and his second wife, Florence, lived in this bungalow in the then rural San Fernando Valley, but, by 1928, they no longer resided at this address. (He appears to have died during or before 1928.) It later became home to the Volunteer League of the San Fernando Valley, Van Nuys.

This residence combined the low-pitched gable roof and exposed roof brackets of the bungalow with a Palladian motif composing the front door and sidelights.