 The Bain building is a two-story five-by-five bay structure with the Second Empire's signature mansard roof, surfaced in polychrome slate.Its foundation is built into surface that slopes toward the creek, requiring steps to access the building through its front facade, where a central entry to the upper floors is flanked by separate, three-part storefronts themselves consisting of doors flanked by large bay windows.The roofline is decorated with a bracketed and panelled cornice, echoed in smaller, less ornate scale above the storefronts.