The Emmanuel Franz House is the only remaining unaltered example of urban Italianate cottage style architecture from the 1870s in the City of Ventura. It is a remnant of the many fine residences that once stood in the original downtown section of Ventura.

Emmanuel Franz, from Austria, was one of the early immigrants who came to Ventura during the last quarter of the 19th century. Many Italian, French, German, Basque and Austrian families settled in Ventura. They operated small businesses on Main Street and built residences during the 1870s, the first building boom in Ventura. The Ventura Signal for April 3, 1875, reported that "in the last one hundred days over sixty new buildings were erected."

Franz operated one of the first mercantile businesses on Main Street, one-half block from his home.

Source: Adapted from the NRHP nomination submitted in 1982.

When we photographed the Emmanuel Franz House, it housed a professional office.