In fall of 1874, the California Alpha Chapter rented a university-owned cottage for the chapter’s usage. It was a one-story house with six rooms, and was the first Phi Delt chapter house ever and first west of the Mississippi amongst all fraternities and sororities.

The Grand Alpha chapter had issued a charter for California Alpha only a year prior, on June 16, 1873, after a Wisconsin Alpha alumnus had initiated three University of California students. The beginning of the 1873 fall term was when the chapter’s existence was publicly announced, already totaling twenty members.

The chapter continued to grow in size and popularity on campus after the chapter house was obtained.

In 1914, California Alpha built and moved into its second chapter house. While the chapter is in a different location today the 1914 property is registered on the National Register of Historic Places.