The following is quoted from the California Office of Historic Preservation website, 2009 Actions Taken dated October 30, 2009.

One Lombard Street is being nominated at the local level for its association with master architect Willis Polk (1867-1924), one of San Francisco's most influential architects from the 1890s through the 1920s. Designed in 1900 and built the following year, One Lombard Street illustrates several principles of Polk's architectural approach, including his devotion to Classical architecture and his belief in decorative restraint to achieve lasting beauty, and established some principles of design that Polk employed for other industrial buildings. The building illustrates a transitional period in industrial design, from one that abandoned pure function to one that sought balance between function and beauty.