Known as Crooks House, after its original owner/builder, James E. Crooks, this elaborate 19th century residence was built in the style often referred to as Carpenter Gothic, on a site overlooking the Carquinez Strait. At the time, the front entrance to the house was accessed from a wooden boardwalk, which was later torn down when it was deemed to be unsafe. The house has an airy, open floor plan with large south-facing windows.  It as also occupied by James’s brother William, President of the People’s Bank and Mayor of Benicia (1924-1940), and his sister Alice Crooks, a local schoolteacher. The house fell into disrepair sometime in the late 1940s.  Happily, it has since been restored and is under private ownership at its present location on the east side of West 3rd Street.