It is a four-story brick Tudor Revival building with limestone trim, built in 1910 to designs by the Boston architect James T. Kelley and his associate, Harold S. Graves.

The erection of the Peter Faneuil School represented an early form of urban renewal, as the area it occupies was cleared of wooden tenement housing for its construction.

At the start of each semester, students and staff spent several days at Boston University's Sargent Camp Outdoor Adventure Program to get to know one another and to participate in trust-building activities.

ACC, a 'back to basics' advanced program, was created as a safety net for academically strong and/or gifted students of the Boston public schools.

In 1994, the building was converted into apartments and expanded with a new brick façade along the Joy Street sidewalk, which turned its parking-lot forecourt into a central courtyard.