Silk money raised the R. and F. Cheney Building on this corner at 942 Main Street. Designed by noted American architect H. H. Richardson, the building now sits on the National Register of Historic Places. It was constructed in 1875–1876 for the Cheney Brothers silk manufacturers of Manchester, Connecticut.
Originally it was a multipurpose structure — five small shops on the ground floor, with offices and apartments above. For many years it housed Brown Thomson's department store and later G. Fox and Company. As of 2007 it was renamed the Richardson Building and today contains a Residence Inn by Marriott, offices, stores, restaurants, and rehearsal space for The Hartford Stage Company.
The building dominates its corner location; with towers and an attic it is variously described as containing five, six, or seven stories. Its facade is organized into three heavy, horizontal tiers of roughly cut, reddish brownstone punctuated by much lighter Berea limestone trim. The lowest tier is defined by a series of huge round arches in striking polychrome bands, a motif that repeats in the stories above.
Follow the round, polychrome arches at street level up through the heavy brownstone tiers toward the towers above.