The Bank of Italy Building is a 14-

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

high-rise built in 1925 in

downtown San Jose Downtown San Jose is the central business district of San Jose, California. Downtown is one of the largest tech clusters in Silicon Valley, as well as the cultural and political center of San Jose. History The town was first settled in 1777. T ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. This building became the second home to the first branch of the

Bank of Italy The Bank of Italy (Italian: ''Banca d'Italia'', informally referred to as ''Bankitalia''), (), is the central bank of Italy and part of the European System of Central Banks. It is located in Palazzo Koch, via Nazionale, Rome. The bank's curre ...

, founded in San Francisco in 1904, which later became the

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

. The first location of the Bank of Italy in San Jose, was on the corner of Santa Clara St. and Lightson Alley, near the intersection with Market Street. Restaurants and other businesses occupy the original building, which has been heavily remodeled. A reconstruction of the original building is at History Park in San Jose.

History

The Bank of Italy Building is one of the oldest

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

s in the

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

, and was designed by architect Henry A. Minton. From when it was built in 1926 until 1970, it was the tallest building between

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. It is a

Mediterranean Revival Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references from Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonial ...

—

Beaux-Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorpora ...

style structure, with a red-tile hip roof and a decorative cupola with a needle-like spire featuring a tall green light.

Present

The building is a designated San Jose Historical Landmark, and in a

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

—

Historic District A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

. It is currently used for office space for various law firms and tax services among others, in addition to a pawn shop and a night club, and formerly an AIDS advocacy group. The building was sold to local developers and real estate investors Gary Dillabough and Jeff Arrillaga for $27.04 million in December 2017.

References

External links

{{Externalimage , align=right , width=300px , image
Main entrance as seen from Santa Clara & First

NRHP Historic District Contributing Buildings - Old Bank of America Building
History of Santa Clara County, California Beaux-Arts architecture in California Mediterranean Revival architecture in California Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Santa Clara County, California Skyscraper office buildings in San Jose, California

History

Present

See also

References

External links