The Heim House is one of the original Victorian-era homes built on Carroll Avenue in the late 1880s, during the initial development of the Angelino Heights neighborhood. It was built for James B. Mayer, proprietor of the Southern Pacific Transfer Truck Company. Yet it is primarily associated with its second owner, Ferdinand A. Heim, a brewer who owned several saloons and bottling works in the city.

The two-story, Queen Anne residence features a wraparound front porch, two corner towers, and decorative, zigzag-patterned trim. The interior contains many original details, including two fireplaces with mantelpieces and Victorian tile surrounds, carved wooden panel railings and fretwork, and decorative redwood molding with a pressed ivy pattern. The home remained in the Heim family until the death of Ferdinand’s nephew, also named Ferdinand, in 1943. By the 1950s, many of Angelino Heights’ elaborate homes proved too expensive to maintain for residents moving into the neighborhood, and the Carroll Avenue mansions fell into disrepair. During the 1970s, the area experienced a renaissance, and many of the original properties were purchased by new owners who restored the historic details of their homes.