Permit #315 was issued to the architectural firm of Kastler & Hunter on April 13, 1898 for the construction of this three-story brick residential building, measuring 36' x 81' and costing $8,700.

Colonial Revival in style, it features a rusticated first story with arched windows and embellished masonry entranceway, a two-story bowed window in the central bay of the front façade, and rondels in the parapet wall. W.E.N. Hunter, one of the architects of the nascent firm, went on to build a career in church design.

The MERA was a small residential hotel. It may have been built by Henry Bartlet, who died at age 75 in 1899. His wife, Amanda, is listed in the city directory as living there in 1900.

Its permanent residents in 1905 were the two proprietors, Effie Howe, a widow and Kate C. Sias.