The Elias H. Robinson House is a two-and-one-half-story cross-gabled, wood frame building, irregular in plan resting on a concrete perimeter foundation.

The house was designed by Santa Cruz architect Daniel Damkroeger in a modified Stick/Eastlake style known as the Alpine style. Loosely based on Swiss country houses, the Alpine style employed scroll sawn flatwork and wide overhanging sharply flared eaves.

Damkroeger was the only Santa Cruz architect who designed residences in the Alpine style. In spite of their brief appearance during the last building boom in 19th century Santa Cruz, their eclectic look and relative abundance, especially on the east side of the San Lorenzo River, has made them a character defining feature of the neighborhoods they inhabit. About thirty of these residences were constructed during Damkroeger's brief stay in Santa Cruz (1887-1891) of which perhaps a half dozen examples remain.

Adapted from the NRHP Nomination.