The brick and sandstone, French Renaissance Revival building is the oldest on the University of Washington's current campus.

[a] A grassy area planted with large, canopy trees - the Denny Yard - sits in front of the building.

Originally called the Administration Building, in 1910 it was renamed after Arthur A. Denny, one of the founders of Seattle and an early benefactor of the university.

The $56 million renovation of 2008 was stalled by the Great Recession but resumed in 2014 and was completed two years later.

[7][8] As of 2016, the building houses the university's departments of Anthropology, Classics, Germanics and Near Eastern Languages & Civilization.