The building was designed by Regent Alfred John Bidwell (1869–1918) of Swan & Maclaren in 1904 for the Armenian firm of Stephens, Paul & Company.

[6] Basco Enterprises’ Bobby-O Department Store, which mainly sold electronic equipment and jewellery, was opened in the building likely in the 1970s and remained there until the 1980s.

In May 1991, a decision was made to forgo preserving the similarly rustic four-storey Eu Court and conserve Stamford House instead as the latter had more potential for commercial purposes.

[9] Despite protests by the public, Eu Court was demolished in 1992 for road widening with the aim of easing future traffic congestion on Hill Street.

[20][21] By 2016, the project stalled when disagreement arose within the consortium, and the hotel spread across Capitol Building and Stamford House failed to open although a Temporary Occupation Permit was given in October 2017.

[16] The deadlock was broken by a settlement made in the High Court in January 2018 and, in March, Perennial bought out Chesham Properties for about $528 million.

[24] The Stamford House is a variation of the Venetian Renaissance architectural style that was popular in commercial buildings in the Victorian period.

With its Adamesque-like mouldings and elaborate ornamental devices, the three-storey Stamford House is typical of the High Victorian phase.

[24] A hallmark of many older buildings in the colonial district, the covered walkway around the Stamford provides shade and encourages pedestrian traffic by shoppers and tourists.

Exquisitely wrought cast-iron grilles, in the same intricate floral design as the frieze, were revealed after years of being covered by bland shop signs.

As there were no records of the building's interior decor, the contractors had to uncover clues and make decisions on colour, pattern and size, sometimes based on straw polls taken from passers-by.

[10] The main contractor Batae Engineering employed the preferred top-down approach, from the roof down to the floor, for Stamford House's restoration.

[26] EU Court is an endangered art deco styled building across Hill Street from Stamford House which was built in the late 1920s as an apartment block.

[27] The result was the irreversible loss of a heritage building in order for Hill street to be widened by one lane, which did not solve the traffic congestion issue.