The Bank of Italy building in Livermore

The Bank of Italy building in Livermore is a masterclass in historical architecture. Built in 1921, it was designed by Edward T. Foulkes in the Second Renaissance Revival and Neoclassical styles. Construction involved local bricks from the Livermore Fire Brick Company and marble floors.

The facade is fourteen courses of rusticated cut stone, featuring pilasters with Corinthian capitals and keystone sculptures of women's heads. Above the pilaster capitals, an architrave, taenia, and entablature embellished with relief sculptures of the French Fleur-de-lis flank the central name inscription 'Bank of Italy.' This ensemble is capped by a stone cornice featuring decorative elements like egg and dart motifs, simulated beam ends, and triglyphs.

The building served as the 13th branch for San Francisco's Bank of Italy until 1957. It then became the City of Livermore's City Hall from 1957 to 1978, before serving as a Bank of America branch from 1978 to 1991. In 1991, the building was sold to the Seppala family, who added an elevator and performed seismic updates.

Since 1963, the building has housed The Independent newspaper, which serves the cities of Livermore, Dublin, Pleasanton, and Sunol. The exterior of the building remains largely unchanged from its original design, retaining the stone cornice and the white-painted flagpole positioned above the central arched opening on the roof.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons