AKA: Liberty House Department Store, Downtown, Oakland, CA; Rotunda, Downtown, Oakland, CA

Structure Type: built works - commercial buildings - department stores; built works - commercial buildings - office buildings

Designers: California Capital Group (firm); Cannon, E.W., Architect (firm); Dickey, C.W., Architect (firm); Edward W. Cannon (architect); Charles William Dickey (architect); Phillip H. Tagami (developer)

Dates: constructed 1912

1501-1539 Broadway
Downtown, Oakland, CA 94612

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Building History

The noted Oakland (and Honolulu-based) architect, C.W. Dickey (1871-1942), designed this department store in 1912. Like many large-scale department stores of the period, it was arranged around a multi-story atrium. The atrium was topped by an coffered dome.

Developer Phillip Tagami's adaptive reuse of the department store as an office complex derived its name from this distinctive atrium.

Oakland resident, Phillip H. Tagami, commissioned the renovation of the former Kahn's Department Store, located in a prominent spot across from City Hall. Now known as "The Rotunda," an office building, this adaptive reuse has been considered very successful.

Oakland Historic Landmark: 132

National Register of Historic Places: 89000194 NRHP Images (pdf) NHRP Registration Form (pdf)

PCAD id: 14541