Pioneers' Homes, state-supported old-age homes for men, were first legislated in 1913. After using abandoned military buildings in Sitka, the Pioneers' Home began construction on new buildings in 1934. Heath, Gove and Bell of Tacoma, Washington, designed the complex.

Of concrete construction, the main three-story building is in an open U-plan. The stucco walls, painted yellow, contrast with the red-tile hip roof. A corbeled cornice and various projections, including a sun porch across the front, give the building a slightly ungainly appearance, but as the largest building in Sitka, located on a spacious lot across from a park on the water, it is undeniably prominent. Auxiliary structures, such as the manager's house and nurses' quarters, were built in 1935 in a compatible style; a 1956 addition in the rear was constructed to accommodate women. The statue The Prospector, sculpted by Alonzo Victor Lewis in 1949, stands in front of the building.