[1] Typical of most painters and decorators of the nineteenth and earlier twentieth centuries, Exton and Gough and their employees provided a wide range of services for the householder or business person building or improving their premises.

Exton and Gough also provided paint supplies for tradesmen and were agents for embossed metal ceilings and importers of art glass and wallpapers of the latest European design.

During the 1880s Exton and Gough expanded their business to incorporate a department for the manufacture of stained glass, the only of its kind in Queensland.

[1] Exton and Gough quickly assumed a reputation for high quality work and were commissioned for prestigious projects including Government House (George Street), the Treasury Building, Customs House, the Smellie and Co Warehouse, the Wesleyan Methodist Churches in Brisbane and Fortitude Valley.

Exton and Arthur Hatton, an associate, obtained a mortgage on the property in December 1907 for $1000 with a time frame of just over 2 years to repay the loan.

Greek key relief moulding on cement panels, signage and other classical motifs decorated the facade.

Ann Street, a series of two to four storeyed buildings built to the footpath and punctuated occasionally with towers became a significant promenade through Brisbane.

[1] RS Exton and Co continued to offer painting and decorating services and expanded the stained and leaded glass aspect of the business.

In 1913, The Salon reported that the leadlight department of RS Exton and Co was under the management of Herbert M. Smyrk who for many years was one of the principal artists in the studio of Messrs William Morris and Co, Ruskin House, London.

RS Exton died in 1921 and the company was compromised by the effects of the early 1930s Depression and by World War II.

In the early 1940s the Ann Street Warehouse of RS Exton and Co, was used by EJ Lynch Motor Body Repairs Hoods and Upholstery.

The development that was to replace it was abandoned in 1990, and the site sat vacant until the mid-2000s, when the "333 Ann St" office tower was built in its place.

[1] The facade is a symmetrical composition of face brick construction laid in English bond with rendered detailing.

As the only known premises of the RS Exton and Co business, or its predecessors, to survive, the building facade at 333 Ann Street has important and rare associations with a prolific and well known painting, decorating and stained glass business who were responsible for work to many of Queensland's outstanding nineteenth and early twentieth-century buildings.

Through its position on Ann Street and the quality of the external detailing, the remnant building demonstrates the ethos and significance of the RS Exton and Co firm.