The C. Brewer Building at 827 Fort Street in Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...

 was built in 1930 to be the headquarters of C. Brewer & Co.

C. Brewer & Co.

C. Brewer & Co., Ltd. was a Honolulu-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company did most of its business in agriculture....

, the smallest of Hawaii's Big Five

Big Five (Hawaii)

The Big Five was the name given to a group of what started as sugarcane processing corporations that wielded considerable political power in the Territory of Hawaii during the early 20th century and leaned heavily towards the Hawaii Republican Party. The Big Five were Castle & Cooke, Alexander &...

 corporations. The intimate, almost residential design was begun by Bertram Goodhue

Bertram Goodhue

Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue was a American architect celebrated for his work in neo-gothic design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for the Merrymount Press.-Early career:...

 and completed by Hardie Phillip

Mayers Murray & Phillip

Mayers, Murray & Phillip was an architecture firm in New York city and the successor firm to Goodhue Associates, after Bertram Goodhue's unexpected death in 1924. The principals were Francis L.S...

. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 on 2 April 1980.

Built of reinforced concrete in a Mediterranean Revival style

Mediterranean Revival Style architecture

The Mediterranean Revival was an eclectic design style that was first introduced in the United States about the end of the nineteenth century, and became popular during the 1920s and 1930s...

, with cut sandstone and stucco

Stucco

Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...

 and plaster finish, a walled garden, and second-floor balconies, it also features a tiled, double-pitched "Dickey roof" with wide eaves to protect against sun and rain. The modest decorations
symbolized the business of the C. Brewer Company: wrought iron railings represent sugar cane, and light fixtures were designed to resemble of sugar cubes.

After closing down the sugar business and diversifying into other agricultural products and spinning off its real-esate business, the company moved to Hilo, Hawaii on the Big Island of Hawaii

Hawaii (island)

The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...

 in 1998.
The building now houses the Honolulu administrative offices of the University of Phoenix

University of Phoenix

The University of Phoenix is a for-profit institution of higher learning. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apollo Group Inc. which is publicly traded , an S&P 500 corporation based in Phoenix, Arizona...

.