Judge Welch used this property as a gentleman's working ranch and family retreat.
The main building, constructed in 1892, is 128 feet long by 82 feet wide. It was built on four separate foundations - two made of stone, one made of concrete, and one made just of mud sills. The exterior walls are made of redwood logs, sawn in half except at the corners where the full circular cross section is maintained. The ground floor logs are horizontal and the upper floor logs are vertical.

According to the National Register Nomination, the historical value of this landmark is the use of indigenous materials in the house and the integration of the house with its site.

The property remained in the Welch family until 1955.

Over the next two decades, it changed hands several times until it was purchased by Santa Clara County to expand Sanborn-Skyline County Park.

For thirty years, until it closed in 2010, it was a hostel.