The Corner Office

The masonry core of The Corner Office dates back nearly 200 years to the earliest years of Huntsville's history. The various incarnations and exterior claddings over that period are like a time capsule of architectural styles and commercial developments in the evolution of the city's downtown district.

The earliest historic photos of the building date from the late nineteenth century. At that time, the building was known as The Trade Palace, where dry goods, clothing, carpet, and household items were sold. Over the years, the building also housed a bank, drugstore, jewelry store, ladies clothing boutique, and sandwich shop. While the masonry structure stayed basically the same, its exterior changed with every generation as fashions came and went. Windows were progressively filled in until the 1960s, when the building was fully clad in metal and all but a few windows above the ground floor remained.

The building underwent a major modernization in the 1990s when the metal siding was removed, and then again in 2019 when it was renamed The Corner Office and adapted as a mixed-use office and retail building. The architects brought a sense of order to the front of the building with broad moldings around the windows and four projecting balconies suspended by cables from the original masonry structure. The architects selected a dark charcoal color to unify the exterior appearance of the masonry walls while still showcasing the evidence of many decades of changes. The window moldings and cornice were painted white to contrast strikingly with the masonry walls. An obsolete fire escape on the east facade was decommissioned but retained and highlighted with red paint as a historic architectural feature. The Corner Office has since become a favorite location for both amateur and professional photographers.