After Lawrance and Welch halls (previous two posts) were built on the eastern edge of Yale’s Old Campus, there was a small space between the two that needed to be enclosed to provide a true cloister for students, shielding them from the noise and ever-developing Downtown of New Haven. Architect Charles C. Haight designed the new hall to resemble a medieval gatehouse. The simple, tall rectangular mass has octagonal towers at each corner with copper domes on top and a crenelated parapet resembling an old English castle spanning between them. On the ground floor is the Phelps Gate, the main entrance to the Old Campus from the east. Its namesake was the late William Walter Phelps, an 1860 Yale graduate who served as a Congressman and as ambassador to Germany and Austria-Hungary. The building holds an important role in the annual commencement ceremonies, which begin in the New Haven Green and pass through to the Old Campus through this gateway.
One of my (many) favorite buildings at Yale University is Bingham Hall, a monumental and landmark example of the Collegiate Gothic architecture style. Built in 1928, replacing the 1888 Osborn Hall (last post), Bingham Hall was constructed as an inward-facing freshman dormitory by architect, Walter B. Chambers, who had just overseen the completion of his first building at Yale, the Colonial Revival style McClellan Hall. Built of Longmeadow brownstone, Bingham Hall largely constructed from funds donated by the children of Charles W. Bingham (Yale, 1868), a Cleveland based businessman. The building stands five stories with a massive nine-story corner tower and helped solidify Yale’s iconic Collegiate Gothic architecture for the future buildings and growth as well.
Like many other buildings on campus, Vanderbilt Hall is named for its wealthy sponsors, but its foundation is one of family tragedy. One of Yale’s stunning Collegiate Gothic structures, the building is named after William Henry Vanderbilt II (1870-1892), who attended Yale in the early 1890s. William contracted typhoid fever from a water pump while touring the western United States and died during his junior year. His father, railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, constructed Vanderbilt Hall in 1894 as a memorial to his son and donated it to the University. The highly prized Vanderbilt room, which is located above the archway, is apparently one of the finest residential spaces on the campus. Architect Charles C. Haight designed the building which enclosed the southern edge of the yard, created a gateway, and is one of the early architectural statement pieces for the campus in the Collegiate Gothic style. Haight would receive later commissions at Yale based on his work on Vanderbilt Hall.
After the completion of Gasson Hall at Boston College, the Jesuit faculty commuted from the old college in Boston, to Chestnut Hill by automobile and streetcar. The new college sought to make their second building on the new campus, a faculty residence. St. Mary’s hall incorporated apartment units and even a chapel, which was used by a local parish. The building was named after St. Mary’s church in Boston. Like Gasson Hall, this gorgeous building was designed by Charles Maginnis, with similarities to the earlier building.
The Boston College campus at Chestnut Hill represents the best of the Collegiate Gothic style in the Boston area.
Boston College was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1863, and is one of twenty-eight Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States. Originally located on Harrison Avenue in the South End of Boston, where it shared quarters with the Boston College High School, the College outgrew its urban setting toward the end of its first fifty years. A new location was selected in Chestnut Hill, then almost rural, and four parcels of land were acquired in 1907. A design competition for the development of the campus was won by the firm of Maginnis and Walsh, and ground was broken on June 19, 1909, for the construction of Gasson Hall.
Originally called the Recitation Building, then the Tower Building, Gasson Hall was finally named in honor of Father Thomas I. Gasson, founder of the Chestnut Hill campus. The building was designed by Charles D. Maginnis and built from stone quarried on the present campus. The style of the building and much of the campus can be classified as Collegiate Gothic. Gasson Hall was publicized by Ralph Adams Cram, who helped establish Collegiate Gothic as the prevailing architectural style on American university campuses for much of the 20th century.
At its interior, the Rotunda at the center of the building is a special treat to behold. A blending of different mediums of art including: architecture, sculpture, stained glass, and painted murals, the space is truly awe-inspiring. The dominant feature inside the rotunda is the large marble statue of St. Michael triumphing over Satan. The art piece was commissioned by Gardner Brewer, a Boston merchant for his great hall in his Beacon Hill house. Brewer hired Scipione Tadolini, a renowned sculptor in Rome, and he (along with his assistants) turned a massive block of the finest Carrara marble into the epic battle between good and evil. The piece was eventually purchased by Boston College when they envisioned it to be placed in their Rotunda.
Buildings of New England 