Pressed brick rises three stories above you at Hotel Gleason—also known as the Albemarle Hotel and Imperial Cafe—an historic hotel and commercial building in Charlottesville, Virginia. Built in 1896, this building announces itself with a three-bay, three-story pressed-brick facade that rises above a ground-floor recessed loggia. As you listen, imagine the rhythm of that loggia, set back from the street and supported on four elegant Corinthian order columns, their classical capitals holding the weight of a Late Victorian composition.
The pressed brick gives the upper stories a measured solidity while the loggia invites a quieter, sheltered presence at street level. This was a place of lodging and commerce for decades; the hotel closed in 1976, and its significance was recognized when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. You can stand here and read those facts in the building’s proportions: the three bays, the three stories, the recessed entry space framed by Corinthian columns.
Your view holds the brickwork above, then the loggia and Corinthian columns that shape this corner of Charlottesville right now.