Houses usually have a full or partial-width porch with columns. Symmetrical front facades and multiple-pane glazing in double sash windows are used, especially on the front facade. Perhaps the most common feature on Mediterranean Revival style buildings is a low-pitched, ceramic tile hipped roof. The roofs often have boxed eaves with bracketing. Some apartment and institutional buildings have flat roofs.
Exteriors are masonry and are either light or dark brick, smooth cut stone, or stucco.
Arches above porches, doors and first story windows are very common. Upper story windows are usually less elaborate. Typically facades are symmetrical, and feature recessed porches and balconies, with entrances having small columns or pilasters. Stylistic features are derived from buildings of the Italian Renaissance and also from the buildings of southern France and Spain. Most of the buildings of this style in the Fourth and Gill Historic District, are from the Early 20th Century and are considered part of the Second Renaissance Revival.