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Listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings; John Marsh, the first Harvard alumnus to settle in California, erected this Gothic Revival Styled house in 1855-1856; he was murdered shortly after occupying his new residence; the house had three stories and contained 7,000 square feet, some rooms having built-in closets, a frontier rarity in the mid-19th century; a four-story tower enabled Marsh to survey his 80 square-miles of territory and detect the approach of bandits, cattle rustlers and horse thieves rampant in the area; a large L-shaped veranda supported by octagonal columns, once surrounded much of the first floor; San Francisco architect, Thomas Boyd, drew up plans for the residence, which cost in the neighborhood of $20,000, an enormous sum at the time;

A $7-million restoration was proposed in 2002; as of 1/2005, park planning continued, and small financial amounts were requested to stabilize the house's stone structure; a 3600-acre state park was being proposed to surround the building, located amidst new housing sub-divisions; numerous efforts to shore up collapsing walls have been undertaken since the 1970s; the veranda was removed at an unknown point;

PCAD id: 4885