The only skyscraper in Elizabeth City, the handsome 7-story brick building was designed by hotel architect William Lee Stoddart of New York. Local tradition cited in the Elizabeth City Historic District National Register nomination named John Beamon (sic) of Raleigh as architect, but it is likely that he was the contractor and was on site and thus was well remembered locally. (Ruth Little-Stokes, Virginia Dare Hotel and Arcade National Register of Historic Places nomination, 1976.) Thomas Butchko’s further research identified Stoddart as the architect. See Butchko, On the Shores of the Pasquotank (1989).