National Bank of Whittier Building - Whittier, CA
Posted by: 
saopaulo1
N 33° 58.738 W 118° 02.238
11S E 404182 N 3760307
A historic bank in Whittier.
Waymark Code: WM1094Y
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 03/24/2019
Views: 1
"The National of Whittier Building, is a six story reinforced concrete bank and office structure located at the southwest corner of Greenleaf Avenue and Philadelphia Streets in Whittier, California. The structure is constructed with facades situated directly on the property lines on Philadelphia and Greenleaf Streets with no setbacks. These street facades are clad in terra cotta and are designed in an ornate and somewhat unusual Second Rennaisance Revival style. The facades on both Philadelphia Street and Greenleaf Avenue are similar in design with the exception of the entryways which front on Philadelphia Street.
The ground floor features a granite base and four pilasters with capitals, separated by three windows on the Greenleaf Avenue facade, and two windows and the bank entry on the Philadelphia Street facade. Each of these large rectangular pane window openings has a small transom of leaded glass at the top.
The building is structured in a three part vertical composition, with base, shaft, and capital. The base is comprised of the first and second floors, and is separated from the shaft by the terra cotta belt described below. The shaft is comprised of the third through the fifth floors, and the capital of the sixth floor and cornice. The bank entryway is surrounded by ornate terra cotta panels decorated with; urns and creeping vines. Above the doorway is a cornice with dentils, a keystone, and a cartouche bearing the date of construction of the building, 1923. The original doors of the bank were replaced in 1964 during the remodeling of the bank lobby. Smaller windows adjoining each side of the pilasters are also ornamented at the top with small panes of leaded glass. On the Greenleaf Avenue facade, both the windows at the North corner and the small doorway at the South corner have been enclosed with stucco. These enclosures occurred as a result of the remodelling.
A highly decorated stringcourse which separates the first and second floors has a vitruvian scroll pattern. An ornate terra cotta belt separates the second and third floors. This belt has dentils and a fleur-de-lis pattern. A smaller stringcourse separates the fourth and fifth floors and is also scroll- patterned.
The windows above the first floor are grouped and centered above the first floor pilasters. These windows are tri-grouped and each set features three double-hung windows. These windows are outlined in an egg and dart pattern. The windows between floors are separated by terra cotta panels adorned with the urn and vine pattern. This window pattern is carried up to the sixth floor where panes of terra cotta with stylized urns and vines adjoin each window. A column of singe double-hung windows is located at the corners of the building with two columns at the northeast corner of the structure. Finally, the building is topped by an ornate, bracketed cornice." (
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