The Beaux-Arts urbanity of Kirby Hall is characteristic of its architect, Warren, the dilettantish socialite who sported an opera cloak and a gold-tipped cane, and who designed New York City's Grand Central Terminal. For the Department of Government and Law, he fashioned a symmetrical essay in limestone and granite, fronted by a pedimented block from which a large bust labeled “Republic” peers down. The words chiseled across the front are from Matthew 20:15: “IS IT NOT LAWFUL FOR ME TO DO WHAT I WILL WITH MINE OWN.”