The Bank of Italy is a historic bank building located at 1245 Park St. in

Paso Robles Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River approximately north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot ...

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 ...

. The building was added to the

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 ...

on March 19, 1998.

Origin and design

Built in 1921, the three-story building was the tallest in Paso Robles. August Nyberg, the owner and architect of the bank, designed it in the

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 ...

style. The

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

building's design features

quoin Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...

-like corners, semicircular windows on the second floor with latticed glass and radiating brick borders, and recessed transoms.

Historic uses

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 ...

and Midland Light and Power moved into the building in 1922, and the bank purchased the building the following year.

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 ...

acquired the Bank of Italy in 1930; from 1937 to 1958, the Bank of America branch in the building was the only bank in Paso Robles. The second floor of the building was used by various businesses, including several doctors, while the third floor held meetings for local fraternal organizations. Bank of America left the building in 1969.

Modern usage

In 1992, art dealer Ali Salmanzadeh purchased the building and opened a gallery on the first floor; the California Department of Corrections uses the upper floors for office space.

References

External links

Paso Robles, California Buildings and structures in San Luis Obispo County, California Buildings and structures in Paso Robles, California Commercial buildings completed in 1921 Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in San Luis Obispo County, California Renaissance Revival architecture in California {{SanLuisObispoCountyCA-NRHP-stub