...particularly at the main entrance, at the centre of the north side of the building. The first thing most would notice over the wide and tall arched entrance is the pair of lions heads, one to each side. Above the lions is a low fenced balcony with the name "SAN MARCO" in a terra cotta frame. The entrance is a small portico which extends out from the recessed entrance doors. The entire three storey building is built of cream coloured brick. The cornice overhangs somewhat, trimmed with modillions and small dentils below and a row of iron cresting above.
Completed in 1904, the Renaissance Revival building was designed by local architect Albert Held and was perhaps the city's largest and most elaborate apartment building at the time of its construction. Today it is a primary contributing building to the Riverside Avenue Historic District.
Irregularly shaped, the building consists of two long rectangular sections set at an angle to each other and joined at their east ends by a wide section with rounded corners to conform to the shape of Adams Street. Between the two sections of the building is a landscaped open "carriage court". The apartments facing the courtyard have private balconies.
San Marco Apartments
W1229 Riverside Avenue. Located at the west end of the triangular
block formed by the merging of Riverside and Sprague Avenues is the three-story Second Renaissance Revival San Marco Apartment Building which, along with Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral and the Carnegie Library, represents the earliest extant primary architecture of the Civic Center. The brick masonry building was constructed in 1904 according to plans by well-known local architect Albert Held, who acquired his training in a technical course at the University of Minnesota. Wedge-shaped in plan in conformance with its site
the building has its principal frontage, nearly 200 feet, on Riverside Avenue. The apex is bayed in plan and features a two-bay loggia on each story. Frontage on Sprague Avenue the south face, extends approximately 135 feet. Access to an interior carriage court is given by a depressed driveway at the east end of the Riverside Avenue facade.
The exterior is faced with buff colored brick atop a sandstone foundation. The long facades are unified by a rusticated brick ground story and string course. Walls are capped by a conventional cornice and surmounted by iron cresting. Flare-top brick chimney and spired turrets once at the top of courtyard walls are no longer extant. Lion head masks decorate the bold round-arched portal in the Riverside Avenue facade which is the building's main entrance. The initial festive air of the San Marco was enhanced by the use of striped awnings at each opening. Despite the loss of some of these touches, the building has received a high level of maintenance over the years and is still a fashionable
residence.
From the NRHP Nomination Form
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