Ventura's Beaux-Arts Courthouse

The domed courthouse that anchors downtown Ventura was designed by Albert C. Martin, built in nineteen twelve, and dedicated in July of nineteen thirteen at a cost of two hundred seventy-eight thousand dollars. It is an outstanding example of Beaux-Arts design, with gleaming glazed terra cotta panels, full Doric entablature, and an unusual detail: friars' heads carved as keystones above the arched ground-floor windows, a nod to the mission heritage of the city.

The interior is equally ambitious: stained glass domes, a marble entrance lobby, a sweeping staircase, and mahogany and walnut paneling throughout. The building served as the county courthouse until nineteen sixty-eight, then became Ventura City Hall. It was the first structure in the city to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places and holds landmark designations at the state, county, and city levels.