In 1962, the architect Victor Steinbrueck wrote of it, "…this fanciful example of residential Victorian carpenter Gothic, one of the most interesting and apparently sound of the rare few remaining… could be made delightfully attractive by sympathetic preservation…"[3] Nonetheless, it became vacant in 1974 and was scheduled for demolition in the mid-1980s.

The owners, Dr. and Mrs. Michael Buckley, donated the structure to Historic Seattle, a nonprofit architectural preservation organization chartered as a public development authority by the city.

Historic Seattle in turn sold it to David Leen, a local lawyer, for $7,500.

On April 6, 1986, Leen moved the Ward House from its First Hill lot on Boren Avenue between Union and Pike Streets to its current location at the corner of E. Denny Way and Belmont Avenue E. Leen worked to restore the building using fixtures and furniture from the original time period.

Besides being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the building is also an official City of Seattle landmark.