The building was intended as a home for Jack Malloch and his son, John Rolph Malloch. Both men were partners in a father/son architectural firm based in San Francisco, and both wanted to live on Telegraph Hill with a view of the
San Francisco Bay. They determined to build an apartment which would provide them with fine dwellings and also with income from the rental units it held. Irvin Goldstine (sometimes written Irving or Irvine) designed the building for them; he had recently graduated from ''l'
École des Beaux-Arts'' but had not yet earned his architect's license, so he was not listed as the
architect of record. Instead, the Mallochs were listed. Goldstine obtained his license in 1940, four years after he first sketched the Malloch Building. Structural engineer W.S. Ellison oversaw construction of the primarily wooden frame structure, built atop a foundation and two utility floors made of
reinforced concrete to meet exacting state requirements for stability. The interiors were streamlined as much as possible, without traditional touches such as baseboard moldings. Indirect lighting was used throughout. Curves were abundant, with rounded fireplaces topped with indirect lighting and a round dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows. Rounded balcony edges were set off by rounded bay windows. The bedrooms included circular dressing rooms with ample closet space. In some of the units, glass brick was used as partition material. The city of San Francisco notified the Mallochs that they were in violation of a building code prohibiting more than three floors above a garage, because the building contained four floors of apartments above the garage. The Mallochs successfully argued that their structure
stepped back in progression up the slope of Telegraph Hill so that the top floor was not directly above the garage. No part of the building was in violation of the code. ==Use==