A four-story concrete-frame building clad in red brick, two bays wide. At street level, two broad round arches trimmed in white glazed terra cotta frame the storefronts, with a terra-cotta roundel between them and the address 1521 on the center pier. Above, windows are grouped in threes between double brick pilasters, with bands of patterned brick spandrels between the floors. A white terra-cotta cornice with a shield-shaped pendant on the center pier runs beneath a red clay-tile pent roof. Terra-cotta ribbing on the end piers rises past the roofline into tall white pointed finials. The rear is plain brick with concrete floor bands and a fire escape, and stands taller because the ground falls away behind the building.
Built in 1917 to the design of Albert B. Groves, one of the architects who shaped the Washington Avenue garment district. Built St. Louis dates the design to 1916, which likely reflects the year it was planned. Faded painted signs on the building advertise Guaranty Bank and Trust Co. and Walk-Over Shoes (Geo. E. Keith Company). At some point the storefronts were covered with a slipcover, which was later removed. An attempt to give the entrance a Gothic look damaged the original ground floor, and damage to the terra cotta was recorded by 2001. In 1986 the owner was Century Trading Corporation, and the building is listed as contributing to the Washington Avenue Historic District. The Europe nightclub opened here in May 2003, and the building sold again in November 2008. Who the Guzzardo name refers to has not yet been confirmed.
