The house is a four-story structure in Baroque-Queen Anne style; it has several towers and the roof has bands of scalloped shingles alternating with plain.

It stands on a site at the head of Eureka Valley and originally had 45 rooms;[1] The interior features an impressive foyer with grand staircase, carved fireplaces, mantels, and wood paneling, and fine stained glass.

[1][3] Clarke engaged in an expensive legal feud with a neighbor over water sales,[4] and soon after completing the house lost his fortune in a nationwide economic depression; in 1892 he declared himself insolvent after signing his real estate holdings over to his wife and a friend in an attempt to conceal them.

He lost the house in 1896 when he defaulted on the mortgage;[5] his wife had declined to live in the then largely rural area, preferring to remain on Nob Hill.

[5] The Alfred E. Clarke mansion was designated San Francisco city landmark number 80 on December 7, 1975.