The eleven-story building was designed in the Stripped Classical style with early Art Deco elements, and was constructed with a frame of steel and concrete fronted with limestone and set on a granite base.

[4] The Southern Railway Building was constructed with a frame of steel and concrete and faced with limestone, resting on a low granite foundation.

A 1995 renovation to the building saw three central entrances cut into the ground floor on the north façade; while the doors themselves are modern, the bronze frames and spandrels from the previously existing windows were retained.

Street-front entrances provide access to retail space on the ground floor, and the offices are reached via an elevator bank located inside a two-story, marble-lined lobby.

[2] The Southern Railway was created in 1894 when railroad financiers J.P. Morgan & Co. oversaw the reorganization of two struggling lines, the Richmond & Danville and the East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia.

[11][12] While its executive offices remained in D.C., Southern Railway did move its accounting department to Atlanta, Georgia, which resulted in less than half of its previous Washington-based workforce staying in the city.

[2] Southern Railway hired the D.C.-area architect Waddy Butler Wood to design the new structure, which he stated would be inspired by the Acropolis of Athens.

[17] When Southern Railway donated the Aiken House to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1978, the presentation was held in the D.C. building's executive offices.

[2][3] It was designated a contributing property to the Financial Historic District the following year, and as of 2022[update], the building was owned by the Grosvenor Group and housed ground-floor retail and upscale office space.