For nearly four decades after its completion in 1926, the Bank of Italy Building was the tallest building in San Jose. The fourteen-storey Renaissance Revival tower at the corner of First and Santa Clara streets was commissioned by A.P. Giannini, the Italian-American banker whose Bank of Italy later became Bank of America. The exterior is decorated with carved stonework, balconies, and a heavy entablature topped by a tiled roof.
The building was renovated and converted to residential use in the early 2000s. From the street it remains one of the most distinctive structures in downtown San Jose, a survivor from the era before glass towers took over. Walk past it on a circuit of the Downtown Historic District for a sense of what a midsized California city looked like a hundred years ago.