Built with red brick, the chapel was the first building on Georgetown University's campus to be funded entirely by external philanthropy and the first to be named after a non-Jesuit.

Drexel took a personal interest in overseeing the fabrication of the stained glass windows, which were designed by Franz Mayer of Munich.

[4] The windows depict sixteen unique scenes of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and several saints including Joan of Arc and Ignatius of Loyola.

[7] Construction of the roughly neo-Gothic building[3] was completed in 1893, and dedication of the Sacred Heart of Jesus occurred that same year.

It is believed to have been carried by ship from England to St. Clement's Island and St. Mary's City of the Maryland Colony by the Jesuits, making it the first Roman Catholic Mass said in English-speaking North America.

Major structural renovations and interior refurbishments were made, including a reinforcement of the foundation,[17] and the stained glass windows were removed, re-leaded, and re-installed.