The tallest structure in north Texas when completed in 1907, the seven-story building was constructed by physician Bacon Saunders, whose offices occupied the top floor. The building is modeled on its wedge-shaped New York City counterpart typologically, but its Louis Sullivan–inspired ornament is distinctly Fort Worth, with panther heads and other motifs reflecting its Texan setting. Pier capitals are geometrically stylized. The piers terminate in round arches under the cornice, with foliate frames around the entrance portals.
Initially designed to be ten-stories, the financial Panic in 1907 resulted in the reduced seven-story height. A cast-iron cornice caps the five floors of buff brick atop a two-story base of limestone. Metal window awnings have been added to the west elevation facing Hyde Park. Across the street at 1201 Houston is the four-block-long Fort Worth Convention Center (1968, Preston M. Geren and Associates; 2003, Hellmuth Obata Kassabaum) that terminates the Main Street axis from the courthouse.