During the 1880s, San Rafael became a fashionable suburb and a summer resort for wealthy San Franciscans. The Robert Dollar Estate is probably the finest surviving example of Eastlake and Queen Anne architecture built during that period.

Robert Dollar purchased the property in 1906 and named it Falkirk after his birthplace in Scotland. Captain Dollar began his career as a shipping magnate with one small ship in 1895. By 1924, the fleet had grown to become the world's first round-the-world passenger and freight line. The $ sign on the smokestacks of the Dollar Line were known internationally.

Adapted from the NRHP nomination submitted in 1972.