Doyle's chief designer Charles K. Greene had traveled abroad to study Greco-Roman architectural forms in the 1910s.

[7] The building occupies a 50-by-100-foot (15 m × 30 m) site at the northeast corner of 6th Avenue and Stark Streets; it faces 6th.

The exterior is clad in cast terracotta with marble trim, and the roof is covered in red clay tiles.

Two ornate bronze lamps flank the central entrance, similar in style to fixtures used on Portland's Doyle-designed Public Service Building of the same period.

[12] It was converted into a 16-story hotel in 2008, the Marriott-owned Courtyard Portland City Center, leaving the north façade hidden from view again.

At the time of the building's opening in 1925, the windowless third floor was not fully outfitted for use, and was planned to be "held in reserve" until then-anticipated expansion of the bank's business in Portland created a need for additional work space.

[4] The ground floor was occupied by the main banking room, with a line of teller windows along the east side.

It was designed as a "grand two-story room with ornate coffered beam ceilings",[4] which are 36 feet (11 m) high.

During the mall's construction in 1976–77 the plain cement sidewalk in front of the building was resurfaced in brick, and street trees were added.

[4] A large shelter for the new bus stop that was installed there at that time[13] was removed when the mall was rebuilt in 2007–08.

[4] The Bank of California remained at the site for almost 45 years until moving west by just over one block to a new 15-story high-rise building in December 1969.

[4] Bidwell & Company, a Portland-based stock brokerage firm, purchased the building in November 1999[17] and launched an intensive nine-month renovation in 2000.