McGowan House, which serves as the parish hall for Saint James, was built in 1918 by by John Garagues from Pasadena to serve as a West Coast retreat center for the Theosophical Society. It was sold as a private residence in 1946 following an earlier sub-division of the original property. In 1954 the house and land were purchased to provide a new home for the expanding Saint James Episcopal Church.

The McGowan House Center was incorporated as a 501-3c non-profit corporation in 2003, but the house itself has served as an important community center the past fifty years. McGowan House has served as a "home away from home" for those serving at the nearby Presidio, a Community Thrift Shop, a Volunteer Center, a center for language training for immigrants from Central America, and a venue for countless community organizations.

Currently there are over a dozen "12 Step" groups, offering help for relational, behavioral, and substance addictions, which meet at the Center each week. These groups include the Sunrise Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, one of the longest continuously functioning AA groups in Monterey County, a women’s AA group, two AA groups especially focussed on recovery for the gay and lesbian community, and an "elders in sobriety" group. 

Another current focus for the Center involves offering help for those with developmental disabilities. Easter seals of the Central Coast has its Monterey office at McGowan House, and hosts many social events and support groups there for the developmentally disabled and their families. The Monterey County Office of Education uses two classrooms in McGowan House, as well as the common space and kitchen of the Center for their Monterey Transitional Program for 18-22 year olds with developmental disabilities. The non-institutional setting of McGowan House is seen as ideal for such a transitional class.

The Monterey Peninsula Friends of CG Jung use the McGowan House for their dream group, Thursday night seminars, and as a venue for other events from time to time, making the McGowan House Center a significant part of the Saint James call to be "a sanctuary and base community for tending the soul of Monterey."