[1] It had brick partition walls and a deep foundation sitting 30 ft (9.1 m) below the street line.

The residential units had hardwood finishing, parquet oak floors, and frescos on most walls and ceilings.

[4] The building was built as the home of Massachusetts Congressman and former Union general Benjamin Franklin Butler[2][3][5] in 1873–1874.

As the land was directly north of the Richards Building, the headquarters of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, its superintendent requested that a portion of the building be constructed to be fireproof so that it could be rented as storage for valuable and irreplaceable survey records, maps, and engraving plates.

[6] The building was used by President Chester A. Arthur while the White House was being refurnished,[3][7] in a unit rented at the time by Senator John P.

[1] That year, the Marine Hospital Service moved its headquarters from a building at 1308 F Street NW.

Surgeon General Hugh S. Cumming attempted to have the mantles and mirrors stored for use in a future building but was unsuccessful as the items were lost.