Property
Details
Property Details
Address
57 Exchange Street, Portland, ME, 04101
Use
Office, Retail
Owner
Finial LLC
Acquired
2022
Completed
1884
Building Size
32,800 GSF
Name
First National Bank Block
Style
Queen Anne
— 57 EXCHANGE STREET
Known as the First National Bank Block and originally completed in 1884 in the Queen Anne style and designed by Architects Henry Van Brunt and Frank M. Howe of Van Brunt & Howe of Boston, this five-story building has been managed by East Brown Cow since its acquisition by Finial LLC in September 2022. The building was originally built by the First National Bank of Portland, which was founded in 1859 as the National Bank of Portland. The building features architectural details such as a brick tower overlooking the corner of Middle and Exchange Street with copper roof and weathervane, chimneys with a tri-arch motif, a brick, brownstone, and terra cotta façade with wrought iron railings, carved brownstone column capitals and entrance pediment with finial, and a base with round arch windows, stained glass, and granite foundation. A weathervane that was originally commissioned for Portland’s Cumberland County Courthouse in 1788 and moved to the clocktower at 57 Exchange Street in 1884 was removed from atop the building in 1981. The weathervane is made of hard-carved wood that was then gilded and is in the form of a rooster and is currently in a private collection. The architecture firm who designed the building, Van Brunt & Howe, and its predecessor Ware & Van Brunt, designed significant buildings throughout the United States during the late 19th and early 20th century such as Memorial Hall at Harvard University, the Electricity and the Wyoming Building at the World’s Columbia Exposition in Chicago, the Cambridge Public Library, and Union Station in Portland, Oregon, among others. The ground level features prime retail, while level 1 and the upper levels offer Class B office space.
57 EXCHANGE STREET
— BACKGROUND
Known as the First National Bank Block and originally completed in 1884 in the Queen Anne style and designed by Architects Henry Van Brunt and Frank M. Howe of Van Brunt & Howe of Boston, this five-story building has been managed by East Brown Cow since its acquisition by Finial LLC in September 2022. The building was originally built by the First National Bank of Portland, which was founded in 1859 as the National Bank of Portland.
The building features architectural details such as a brick tower overlooking the corner of Middle and Exchange Street with copper roof and weathervane, chimneys with a tri-arch motif, a brick, brownstone, and terra cotta façade with wrought iron railings, carved brownstone column capitals and entrance pediment with finial, and a base with round arch windows, stained glass, and granite foundation. A weathervane that was originally commissioned for Portland’s Cumberland County Courthouse in 1788 and moved to the clocktower at 57 Exchange Street in 1884 was removed from atop the building in 1981. The weathervane is made of hard-carved wood that was then gilded and is in the form of a rooster and is currently in a private collection. The architecture firm who designed the building, Van Brunt & Howe, and its predecessor Ware & Van Brunt, designed significant buildings throughout the United States during the late 19th and early 20th century such as Memorial Hall at Harvard University, the Electricity and the Wyoming Building at the World’s Columbia Exposition in Chicago, the Cambridge Public Library, and Union Station in Portland, Oregon, among others. The ground level features prime retail, while level 1 and the upper levels offer Class B office space.