Washington, D.C., architects who specialized in banks designed one of the earliest high rises in town. The classical dress on the two-story base is a familiar formula for banks of the period. Classical detailing on a building of a decidedly non-antique type was meant to draw a connection between the stability of the government, whose contemporary buildings often came clad in similar garb, and that of the institution. The neoclassical limestone base supports a brick shaft, originally crowned by an elaborate Italian Renaissance cornice that was removed but has been restored.