Private Art Deco Buildings

Presented in this section are 12 additional Private buildings in the Cincinnati area that show Art Deco elements. Many companies chose a modern architectural style to convey a progressive forward-looking company image.


Keep in mid that the Art Deco name did not even surface until the late 1960’s.  These were simply “modern” buildings of the day.  Some of the early modern styles were referred to as as Moderne, Jazz Moderne, Zigzag Moderne, French Modern Style, Depression Modern and Universalism. Later, names like Art Moderne, Streamline Moderne and Mayan Revival were names used to describe the architectural style now in the wider category of Art Deco.


Please share information and photos of other buildings we may have left out of this comprehensive look at Cincinnati’s Art Deco architecture.


Please click on thumbnails to see the full gallery with captions.


The 20th Century Theatre is a Streamline Moderne style theatre that opened in 1941.The Theatre was designed by Maffit, Alcox & Stritzel. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings. It is currently in use as a mixed-use venue for concerts, weddings and other private events.

The Ohio National Life Insurance Company building is now home to United Way of Greater Cincinnati. Located near downtown at 2400 Reading Road.

Entry detail, Ohio National Life Insurance Company building is now called the United Way Building.

Western & Southern Life Insurance Building on Fourth Street, Cincinnati.  Photograph by J. Miles Wolf © 2020

Entry detail, Western & Southern Life Insurance Building.

The Taft Theatre was built in 1928, the interior has some Art Deco details.

Olympic Garage, 120 East Seventh Street: This seven-story parking garage of simple design was built in 1930. The layered, brick pilasters emphasize height, rising to a cornice with ribbed concrete panels and stylized floral designs.

Facade detail, Olympic Garage

Price Hill Historical Society, 3640 Warsaw Avenue, West Price Hill: The former Provident Bank at historic St. Lawrence Corner is now the home of the Price Hill Historical Society, who restored the formerly rundown building to its Deco-style elegance. The limestone façade is adorned with simple carvings.

Facade detail of the Price Hill Historical Society, located in a former Provident Bank building. 

Former Savings and Loan Building on Harrison Ave. Built in 1936. 

Entry detail, Former Savings and Loan Building on Harrison Ave.

Crosley Building, 1329 Arlington Street, Camp Washington, 1928 (Hannaford & Sons, architects): This ten-story former light industrial facility dominates the Camp Washington streetscape. It was built to house the design and manufacture of Crosley cars, radios and refrigerators as well as the studios of WLW and other broadcast stations. Art Deco detailing is visible on what is left of the street façade, as well as the tower. 

Crosley Building

Teamsters Building, 217 West Twelfth Street, OTR: This former Teamsters headquarters is believed to be a Victorian-era structure that later received an Art Deco/Moderne limestone façade. The metal casements, spandrels, granite entry surround and Teamsters logo bas-relief all appear to hail from the mid-twentieth century

Teamsters Building in Over-the-Rhine with name above entry.

Teamsters Building in Over-the-Rhine, detail from top of building.  

The Nielander Building on Central Parkway in downtown Cincinnati.

A former Ironworkers Union building in Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati.

Entryway, Ironworkers Union building in Walnut Hills.

Sears & Roebuck, Avondale, 1929: The Reading Road Sears store was Cincinnati’s first on a suburban site. After years of vacancy, it was renovated by the University of Cincinnati as its new Office for Innovation, winning an award from CPA. The tower was preserved, brick stripped off and reclad, and the Art Deco ornamentation carefully duplicated. A side addition built of glass and steel expanded the building’s footprint..

Sears & Roebuck, Avondale, 1929:  Art Deco ornamentation.

Klosterman Baking Company, 4760 Paddock Road: The Klosterman baking company has been baking tasty loaves at their Paddock Hills location since 1936. The two-story, Deco-influenced, industrial bakery is built of concrete block with incised piers, large glass-block windows, and original half-moon doors. 

Metro service building on Paddock Road.

Art Deco sports figures on the facade of the now demolished Cincinnati Gardens. Although built in 1949 after the Art Deco period, the angular styles art work is in the Art Deco style.

Lenox Garage on Reading Road in North Avondale

Facade detail, Lenox Garage

Built in 1936 for the Gerrard family, this was one of the last of the grand mausoleums built at Spring Grove Cemetery. Its architecture is a blend of modern classicism and art deco. Its smooth surfaces and restrained embellishments are often seen in public buildings built around the same time.