In 1891, the Yangtze River rose and swept away the original French Consulate on Dongting Street. The following year, a new structure rose on the same site. Designed by an unknown architect, the two-story brick-and-timber building was conceived to withstand the elements while projecting administrative authority. Workers hauled gray granite and rough-cast plaster to the site, laying a heavy semi-basement to anchor the frame.

The architect adopted the South Asian colonial veranda style, wrapping both levels in deep, shaded corridors. On the ground floor, bricklayers shaped elegant arched entryways. Above them, they installed stone bottle-shaped balustrades along the second-story balcony. To shield the interior from the humid heat, carpenters fitted wooden louvered window shutters and laid thick wooden flooring. Red clay roof tiles capped the structure, and the surrounding garden, planted with trees, provided a cool retreat from the bustling port.

Inside, the division of space reflected colonial bureaucracy. The ground floor housed offices decorated with delicate carvings on the arches, while the upper floor served as residential quarters with warm fireplaces. After the consulate closed in 1950, the building was repurposed as a residential compound for retired municipal government officials. The grand halls were partitioned for domestic life, and the building adapted to a new political era.

Today, the structure stands at No. 81 Dongting Street as a protected Wuhan Outstanding Historic Building, designated in 1993. It remains closed to the general public, but its red-tiled, multi-sloped roof and granite-accented walls remain visible through the trees—a quiet reminder of the late nineteenth-century global connections that once shaped this riverfront city.