One of the biggest architectural losses at Yale was the demolition of the grandiose Osborn Hall in 1926, after standing less than 38 years! The building was constructed in 1888 at the southeast corner of the Old Yard at Yale, at the corner of College and Chapel streets, and was a landmark example of the Richardsonian Romanesque style of architecture. Designed by architect Bruce Price, the building was designed to face outward and was said to resemble a “squating toad with an open lip”. While architecturally stunning, the building was immediately met with criticism. Its construction necessitated the removal of the cherished Yale fence and the outward-facing design made it hard for students to focus on lectures while the sounds of horses and carriages on the cobblestone streets just outside. The short-lived Osborn Hall was razed in 1926 for Bingham Hall (next post), a prominently designed, but inward-facing building.
Buildings of New England 
Wow! “Stunning.” Thank you.
David Loring, York, Pennsylvania
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Bruce Price’s strange and original work is always worth a close look. He’s Nicholas Hawksmoor to Richardson’s Christopher Wren. The columns and arches echo Richardson’s Austin Hall at Harvard, but the pointed roof is something else altogether. It’s too bad the corner site didn’t work for this interesting building.
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Yale destroyed its best building ever for no reason
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