The two-story brick and limestone structure was built during the iron boom days for the First National Bank, with public services on the first floor and offices on the second. As the boom slowed, French-born mineralogist N. J. Badu bought the building, leasing the first floor to the First State Bank of Llano and using the second floor as his family residence. The gray-painted extension on the west is a later addition. The Badu Building is one of a few survivors of a development planned on the north side of the Llano River in conjunction with the railroad. After the failure of the iron mining and smelting boom, many buildings were mysteriously razed or were destroyed by a 1906 tornado, causing fire insurance in Llano to be canceled for a time.
Designed by Austin architects who were then working on the new courthouse, the Badu Building displays their idiosyncratic use of materials on a very simple rectangular building form. Three bold bands of rock-faced gray granite define the base, second-floor spandrel, and roof cornice zones. Within each zone, a diagonal pattern of alternating projecting blocks creates a strong texture. After many years in the Badu family, the Venable family purchased the building in 2010 for a wine pub and bed-and-breakfast.