Lt. George Horatio Derby, an engineer in the United States Topographical Corps who surveyed the San Diego River rented this house from 1853-1854, during the construction of the Derby Dike.
Around 1855, George Allen Pendleton purchased the house from Bandini. Pendleton served as county clerk and recorder, using the house as his office and for storage of county records as well as his home. Many of the real estate transactions covering the subdividing and sale of Downtown San Diego were recorded here. Pendleton lived in the house until his death in 1871.
The house was moved three blocks to its present location in 1962 to make way for construction of Interstate 5.