[2] The building was built in 1870 as the site for his brewery, on Hunter's Point Ridge near Innes Avenue and Griffith Street.

[2] In 1875, Burnell returned to England to marry Fanny Constable and bring her back to San Francisco.

[6] The San Francisco Chronicle wrote in 1887 that the Albion beer was equal to Guinness in taste, however much cheaper.

[2] The brewery closed in 1919, due to the death of Fanny Burnell and the beginning of the Prohibition.

In 1933, sculptor Adrien Voisin purchased the building to use as his home and art studio, over the span of almost 20 years he worked to restore it.

[7] The beer factory stood in front of the tower, however that has long since collapsed (possibly as early as in 1906).