David Tod Perkins, the son of a prominent Ohio family that included a judge, state senator, Governor, a founder of Summit County, and a founder of the city of Akron, came to California in 1881 and, through his association with his friend and mentor Thomas Bard, became successful in business and politics in Ventura County. He became President of Union Oil Company in 1890 and was elected to State Assembly in 1904. Around 1887, Perkins had this house built at 464 W. Pleasant Valley Road by his neighbor, Danish carpenter Jens Rasmussen, as a single man, then later added a second story when he married his brother's widow and her children came to live with them. Perkins and his wife eventually moved to Santa Barbara, and the house was occupied by a number of families before Belle and Norris Claberg purchased it in the mid 1920s and moved there from their farm in Santa Paula with several of their adult children; Belle was the daughter of Jacob K. Greis, an early pioneer to the area. With no known architect aside from its builder, the house combined elements of more than one style, most distinctly Stick Style and Queen Anne Style, seen in its multi-gabled roof line, decorative half-timbered and patterned exterior wall surfaces, ornate spindle work, and curved veranda elements, while interior detailing included five fireplaces with imported European tiles and inlaid woodwork.