Built in 1929, this Classical Revival / Georgian Revival-style building at 315 Wisconsin Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin, was designed by Frank M. Riley to house the congregation of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, of Madison (see the Property Record online). As the Christian Science faith has declined in popularity since its peak in the early twentieth century, the building has been adaptively reused as an office building.

The building is clad in red Flemish bond brick with a limestone base, large arched windows on the side facades at the old sanctuary in the rear, and a band of limestone belt coursing around the base of the parapet, which encloses the building’s rear-gabled roof. The most distinctive feature of the building is the front entrance, which is semi-circular and wrapped by a two-story Doric portico and arced concrete steps, with a large copper dome, entablature with a cornice, architrave with the words “First Church of Christ Scientist” etched into it, second-story windows with metal juliet balconies, fluted pilasters between bays, and entrance doors with decorative transoms.