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After the 04/18/1906 Earthquake and Fire leveled San Francisco, CA, John D. Spreckels (08/16/1853–06/07/1926), then owner of the San Francisco Call Newspaper, decided to move his family south to San Diego, CA, where he became a real estate and transportation magnate. After 1906, Spreckels reined as the wealthiest man in San Diego, with huge real estate holdings. Spreckels built this grand estate as his new Southern CA base, commissioning the local architect, Harrison Albright to design it. Due to his client's experience with the 1906 quake, Albright configured the Coronado house to be built of all concrete. The Spreckels Family was well acquainted with the hazards of earthquakes; Claus Spreckels had his grand San Francisco Call Building designed with a steel frame, an unusual decision locally before 1906. Jonah Shacknai, the twice-divorced founder of Medicis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, purchased the 27-room Spreckels House in in 03/2007 for $12.75 million. On 07/13/2011, Rebecca Zahau (born c. 1979), hanged herself from a balcony at the Spreckels Mansion, a death ruled a suicide. The findings were odd, given that the woman's hands and feet were bound and she was nude. She had been Shacknai's girlfriend, who took care of his six-year-old son, Max, who died just previously from a fall.

Spreckels erected a huge Neo-classical dwelling, cubic in form, with a flat roof and balustrades lining the parapet. It possessed two large balconies when seen from the front, one a projecting entryway (with a porch on top) and the other a projecting sun room also with a balustraded porch on top. Windows were either trabeated or had segmental arches.

PCAD id: 2683