The Peterson House is significant for its post and beam construction. Single-wall construction has not been used for a number of years because of its poor insulating qualities. Few such structures were built in the Bay Area and very few, if any, remain.

The original shape was rectangular, with a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, bath, and two open porches. It was gas-lit and had an outhouse in the back yard.

Albany was developed by land speculators after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. Eyewitnesses recall that anxious buyers came from San Francisco, bought their lots in this and other such developments, and then lived in tents while their homes were built.

Local lore has it that the Peterson House was the first in the Regents Park neighborhhod.

Adapted from the NRHP nomination submitted in the year 1982.