The Ellinwood complex, designed by San Francisco Architect J. Eugene Freeman in an academically correct Colonial Revival style, consists of the residence, the retaining wall, the barn and the grounds.

It is among the earliest homes built on the crest of Pacific Heights after the extension of transit lines.

The interior, with its formally arranged rooms, displays a very high quality of extant decoration. Aside from its 106 windows and 14 fireplaces, the building features a spectacular interior dome containing approximately 8,000 pieces of stained glass.

The Ellinwood Residence was unoccupied for the half century between 1928-1978, a unique event that accounts for its high level of integrity.

The garden contains three specimen trees which are over a century old, including one which was a gift from Queen Victoria of England.

The original owner, Dr. Charles Ellinwood, who had been a Civil War surgeon, was one of the earliest officers in the United States Public Health Service, and was a founder of the Marine Hospital of the Presidio. (Divisadero Street had once been the dividing line between the City and the Presidio which was much larger than it is today.)

The building demonstrates excellence in the categories of architecture, historical context, physical context and integrity.

Adapted from City Planning Commission Resolution 13584 dated October 7, 1993.