historian Daniel Reiff has argued that the design is based on that of Hollis Hall, a dormitory at Harvard University constructed from 1762 to 1763. Reiff has noted that Wheat Row is a prime example of the vernacular domestic architecture constructed in the District of Columbia during the city's first three decades. Each of the four row houses that make up Wheat Row has a foundation made of stone, and a basement with stone walls. The exterior walls are all brick in a Flemish bond pattern. The north wall is different in that it is laid in an English bond pattern. It is believed that this is the only example of English bond brickwork in a building constructed in the city's first decades. The building containing the four row houses is long and wide. The longer facades each have 12 bays, with each house having three bays. The middle two houses are slightly narrower than the end houses. The entrance is found on the long east facade. The four middle bays on this facade project slightly. The south facade originally had three bays, while the north facade had none. Today, Harbour Square townhouses abut both the north and south facades, and prevent any openings in either wall. Belt courses consisting of four headers separate the first and second and the second and third floors on the east, west, and south facades. The belt course on the south facade is no longer visible due to the adjoining 1964 townhouse. The window sills and decorative window lintels in the facades are both of stone, with the lintel having bevels etched into them to mimic voussoirs and keystones. A trench, surrounded by a black wrought iron fence and not visible from the street, permits light to enter the basement windows. The basement window sills are wood and the lintels brick. The first and second story windows are 9/9, while the smaller third story windows are 6/3. The basement windows are all 6/6. Wheat Row is topped by a low hip roof, sheathed in copper. Double chimneys rise where the row houses meet. A triangular pediment rises above the projecting central section of the structure, pierced by an oval window. (This window's stone facing is not historic, and was created in 1964.) A bas-relief fretwork wooden cornice runs most of the way around the building, except where a stone band separates the pediment from