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Once built to guard fortunes, this nationally recognized treasure has been restored to its Victorian grandeur, and today welcomes guests to spend time in its original vault where they’ll find a very different kind of indulgence.
The name Quoin offers an early clue. Derived from Old French for “corner” or “angle,” it’s both an architectural detail and a nod to the building’s original purpose. Completed in 1885 for the Security Trust & Safe Deposit Company, this sharply angled structure once safeguarded Wilmington’s wealth as a fixture on the corner of Market and Sixth.
The building was the work of Frank Furness—one of the most expressive architects of the Victorian era—whose muscular style favored bold geometry, deep shadows, and an almost confrontational sense of presence. As time eventually loosened its grip, the bank closed its doors and its vault, only to be restored and reimagined years later.
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More than a century later, the structure’s bones remain largely intact, but its priorities have shifted. The clearest evidence sits below street level, where the original bank vault still stands. Once sealed tight to protect other people’s savings, it’s now a warmly lit refuge known as Simmer Down – a place where visitors gather, linger, and occasionally make decisions that would have horrified the building’s original tenants. Indulgence, it turns out, yields the highest return.
