[2] The Steinbeck House is a turreted Victorian building at 132 Central Avenue in downtown Salinas.

An open wood staircase leads to the upper floor, which was first used as an indoor playroom until 1905 when the bedrooms and bathroom were added.

[2][3] The house has been preserved and restored by the Valley Guild, a nonprofit organization, established in 1971 by civic-minded women.

The Steinbeck House is significant under National Register Criterion B, in literature, for its association with John Steinbeck, who was born and spent his early years in the home, and wrote his first short stories, and completed two of his novels, The Red Pony (1933) and Tortilla Flat (1935).

Sheriff William Nesbitt (1853-1933) lived in the house two blocks west of the Steinbecks' home, located at 66 Capitol Street.