The palace was built by architect Gaetano Rezzara, in a neo-Renaissance style, and was inaugurated in 1898. Its name comes from the two lions that flank the stairway leading to the main door, which are copies of the ones found on the steps of the Cathedral of St. Lawrence in Genoa, Italy. The building is painted reddish brown (terra cotta or pale carmine), and the two lions are white.