Joseph W. Podmore Building
Honolulu, United States
Exterior only
Visible from the street; the inside is private.
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Constructed in 1902 by English sailor Joseph W. Podmore on the corner of Merchant and Alakea streets in Honolulu, this commercial building exemplifies the Richardsonian Romanesque style executed in dark, locally quarried lava rock. Originally designed for retail and office rental—housing a tailor and decorator on the ground floor and the Mercantile Printing Company above—the structure features a restrained but distinctive architectural vocabulary. A single arch frames the side doorway on Merchant Street, while the principal corner entrance is articulated by a stone column. Decorative detailing includes a stone balustrade crowning the roofline, contrasting light-stone lintels and sills on the second-story windows, and alternating stone bands of 8 and 16 inches bound by reddish mortar. The building later served as headquarters for the Board of Missions from 1907 to 1916 and housed various tenants including the newspaper *The Friend*, the Honolulu Advertiser, and DHL Air Cargo. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Movement
- Type
- commercial building
- Heritage
- National Register of Historic Places listed place
- Place
- Honolulu, United States
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Location