The Mish House was designed by architects McDougall and Sons in the Stick-Eastlake style, and originally built in 1885 at 407 Divisadero Street. The house was moved to its current location at 1153 Oak Street in 1889 when the development of the Divisadero corridor began. The house was built for Phenes and Sarah Mish and their 10 children. The Mish family moved to San Francisco in 1849. Phenes Mish (1825–1895) was born in Poznań, Kingdom of Prussia (now Poland) and had owned a dry goods importing business called Mish and Sons, he also served as President of Congregation Sherith Israel. Sarah Cohen Mish (1832–1916) was English-born and owned a dressmaking and millinery business with two locations, and her millinery was the largest on the west coast, very rare for women during this time period. Her husband died in 1895, leaving her with 10 children to raise. She passed away in 1916, and the house was passed to the estate heirs and was sold in 1928. Over the years, it has been an apartments, a dance studio, and a public welfare organization in the 1960's occupied the house. In 1975 and 1976, the house was restored by a local preservation group, in hopes of improving the neighborhood. Lily Schlesinger (née Mish), daughter of Phenes and Sarah, was raised in the Mish House and became an opera singer and whistler; and her daughter was Irene Anderson (née Schlesinger), was a dancer and one of the founders of the Anderson Sisters School of Dancing in San Francisco.