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The southwest quadrant of the Academy has been developed as a residential area for the students and faculty. With the exception of buildings along Main Street this area south and west of Main and Phillips Streets remained undeveloped for the first century of the Academy's existence. The Cottages were placed in this quadrant in the 1890's and the growth then expanded to the development of the West Quadrangle and later Hidden Field.
The first Academy residence in the southwest quadrant was the house on Hidden Road selected by Squire Samuel Phillips, Jr., for his interim home from 1780 to 1782. This "little red house on the Woburn Road" served as his residence after he turned his Phillips Street home over to Principal Eliphalet Pearson and while he was waiting for his Mansion House to be built. This house later served as the residence of Squire Samuel Phillips' confidential clerk, Moses Abbot. The building stands today on Hidden Road as a private residence.
In 1777 Samuel Phillips, Jr., had bought from Solomon Wardwell, twenty-two acres of land on the west side of Main Street, south of Phillips Street. Early in 1782 he exchanged three and a quarter acres which he owned on the east side of the street for one and a half acres on the west side, adjacent to the land which he already owned. It was on this land that he built his Mansion House --- approximately the present site of Churchill House.
The frame of this building was made of select New Hampshire oak timbers and the raising of the walls was a community project. The stores and schools of the town were closed for the occasion and men, women and children gathered on the Training Field to witness or participate in the great event. The pastor of the Old South Church, Jonathan French, offered prayer and then everyone seized "ropes and pikes" to raise each wall in turn so the sides could be fastened together by wooden pins. The building boasted 62 windows, three stories, large square rooms with big fireplaces, fine paneling and heavy doors with wrought iron hinges. Although the Phillips' moved into the building earlier, the Mansion House was not completely finished until 1785. It served as the home for Judge Samuel Phillips, Jr., until his death on February 10, 1802, and for his widow until she moved to the Farrar House in 1812.
Judge Phillips and his wife Phoebe entertained President George Washington there on November 5, 1789. Madame Phoebe Phillips placed a ribbon across the chair Washington sat in and changed that ribbon to black crepe after his death. This chair still exists and is at the Academy on loan from the Andover-Newton Theological Seminary. Other noted guests included the Marquis de Lafayette in 1825, Daniel Webster in 1843 and Presidents Jackson, Van Buren and Pierce.
The Phillips family took in Academy students as boarders but they were expected to observe strict decorum in the presence of their landlords. In 1812 it appeared that Madame Phillips could no longer maintain the Mansion House as a result of incautious generosity to philanthropic enterprises combined with poor business management on the part of her son. The Trustees bought the property from her for $15,000 less some money due the school from unpaid pledges of her late husband.
By 1817 the Trustees refurbished the estate as a tavern where for many years the stage stopped on its way to and from Boston. Proprietors of the Tavern included a Mr. Lamson, Henry A. Bodwell and Charles A. Carter.
The Mansion House was one of the best types of the old colonial architecture in New England and its many historical associations made it a place of peculiar interest to a great many people. To every thoughtful Academy student it was full of attractions: the high front door with its massive lock and key, the wide hall with the large, pleasant, low ceilinged rooms opened off it on either side, the stately staircase, the beautiful paneling, the quaint old woodwork. These attributes all carried one back to the days of the colonies, to the days when the Phillips family dispensed a princely hospitality.
Charles A. Carter, proprietor of the Mansion House from 1867, moved out rather hastily before Thanksgiving 1887 to spend that holiday in his cottage. He had rented his furniture to his brother-in-law, W. C. Walker, who had been a clerk there for several years and who intended to operate the hotel. On the evening of November 29, 1887, however, the Mansion House was destroyed by fire. Boarders in Mrs. Tobey's "Brick House" discovered the fire about the same time as the six people who were then occupying the house --- at about 2 A.M.. Mr. Walker found a fire in a pile of chips in the rear of the ell at the extreme west of the building and a second fire was raging in the front part of the third story of the building --- obviously indicating an incendiary origin.
The long run from the village up the Hill caused the Andover Fire Department to be rather late in arriving at the conflagration. When they did arrive the fire had gained such a headway that it was impossible to save the building. They, together with the students who had run out the old Babcock pumper and did valiant service, exerted themselves to get the fire under control and prevent its spreading to the neighboring buildings. They were assisted by the favorable condition of the weather, there being scarcely any wind at all. Before the fire had progressed too far, Prin. Bancroft took the great front door including its massive lock and key off its hinges. The smoke and fire intensity resulted in comparatively little of the furnishings in the 34 sleeping rooms being saved; however, a great deal of the furniture on the ground floor was saved by the Theologues and Academy boys and other residents of the Hill who turned out for the event.
This edifice was not rebuilt and the hotel facilities known as the Mansion House moved to the Stowe House on Chapel Avenue.
The other early building in the southwest quadrant was the farmhouse, store and residence built by Judge Phillips on the corner of Main and Phillips Streets in the last decade of the eighteenth century. It was operated by Jacob Abbot from 1791 to 1797. In 1815 it was under the supervision of Joseph Phelps and in 1818, after the burning of the Second Academy building, it was the locale for school exercises for several months.
For many years about the middle of the nineteenth century it was operated as the Union Club --- a "dining" boarding house for Academy students. Occupied for many years by Deacon Holbrook Chandler, he carried on a Country Store and kept a herd of 20 cows to supply the students with milk. This estate was pictured earlier as Figure 38.
In 1880 the building was moved to the north side of Morton Street (#54) to make room for the Tucker House. It was moved off the site in March of that year but stayed on the road for several days. By mid May the house had been relocated but the out buildings were still making road travel difficult. The relocated estate was partially destroyed by fire in December 1900 --- the old part of the barn was destroyed completely.
The building presently known as Phelps House was built in 1811 as a gift of William Bartlet to the Andover Theological Seminary for Dr. Edward Dorr Griffin the first Bartlet Professor of Sacred Rhetoric.
The architecture of the edifice was once attributed to Bulfinch but is now considered to be the work of a local builder. The entrance contains a beautiful doorway and Palladin window. A long wide entry runs back from this front door to a dining room in the rear of the building and a big door opens onto the garden. On each side of the entry are two large parlors. The house was built with two wings --- one for the Professor's study and bedroom, the other held the kitchen. There was another bedroom, pantry and bath on the ground floor and five bedrooms upstairs when built. An ornamental wooden railing encircled the roof. Behind the house was a large barn, an enormous carriage house, a big woodshed and a tool house. There was also a small summer house under a high elm tree in the rear part of the property.
Dr. Griffin received "carte blanche" from Capt. Bartlet for the construction and furnishing of this dwelling to his own taste. At one point Bartlet was not pleased with a gorgeous wallpaper which cost $1.00 a roll being hung in one of the rooms. Dr. Griffin had 25 cent paper pasted over it and sent the bill for both to Mr. Bartlet.
Construction started in 1809 and was completed in 1811 but by that time Dr. Griffin had resigned from the Seminary to accept the pulpit of the Park St. Church in Boston. Dr. Ebenezer Porter, his successor and the third Bartlet Professor, was the first to occupy this house. Dr. Porter was noted as the organizer of the American Board of Foreign Missions and the American Educational Society. The American Temperance Society and the American Tract Society were also creations of his while residing in the Phelps House. Later residents were Dr. Justin Edwards in 1834 and Prof. Austin Phelps in 1848. Professor Phelps received and entertained Ralph Waldo Emerson here as well as other distinguished men of the day. The garden house was used as a study by his noted daughter Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and it was there that she wrote many books including "Gates Ajar", "A Singular Life" and "Walled In".
In September 1891 the house was fitted up as a recitation building to be used until the Science Building was completed; it then reverted back to a faculty residence. The building was purchased from the Seminary in 1908 and Rev. M. W. Stackpole assumed residency there. It was painted and renovated in 1915 and was rented to faculty members from 1924 to 1933.
Since 1933 Phelps House has been the home of the Headmaster of the Academy --- starting with Dr. Claude M. Fuess. That year the driveway was reconstructed, the house was painted and a new room was added at the back of the second story in preparation of Dr. Fuess.
The Moses Stuart House was built on the southern edge of the southwest quadrant in the year 1812. The house itself and six acres of land for it were donated by William Bartlet. The house was designed by its intended recipient, Moses Stuart, Professor of Greek and Hebrew at the Seminary and "Father of Hebrew Literature in America". He resided there until his death on January 4, 1852, and was followed by Professors J. Henry Thayer, George Harris and W. R. Arnold.
When the dwelling was occupied by Prof. and Mrs. Harris towards the end of the nineteenth century, they added a large drawing room wing and porch and changed the main entrance to the north side of the house. They added a port-cochère outside the entrance and fashioned a charming stairwell and foyer inside.
Acquired by the Academy Trustees in 1908 as part of the Seminary real estate package it became a faculty house. It has remained in that capacity since and has housed many faculty members such as Robert Keep, DuMont Clark, Alfred Kidder, John Phillips, Lester Lynde, Alan Blackmer, Simeon Hyde and Fred A. Stott.
The house just south of Phelps House has had many names throughout its existence --- most depending upon the resident at the time. It has been called the Woods House, the Gulliver House and the Pease House; the last of these has finally "stuck". The building was constructed in 1816 through a bequest of Squire Samuel Abbot for the use of Professor Leonard Woods. He lived in this addition to "Faculty Row" on Main Street until 1854. Later residents were Prof. Barrows, Dr. Mead, Dr. Gulliver and Prof. Theodore Pease.
Pease House was added to the list of Academy faculty houses in 1906-7 when Dr. Pierson S. Page, Physical Director of the Academy, was placed there. The property was acquired from the Seminary in 1908. Painted yellow in 1916 it has been kept in that color and stands out as one of the conspicuously fine colonial residences on Andover Hill.
The noted Brick House was built in 1832 on the site presently occupied by the Memorial Gateway entrance to the West Quadrangle. It was constructed to become the printing house of Flagg and Gould since they had outgrown their quarters on the second floor of the old Newman store across the street. John D. Flagg started printing the "Andover Advertiser" here on February 19, 1853, and turned it over to Warren F. Draper in 1854 when he purchased the business. Mr. Draper operated a book store here as well as the press on the second floor and moved the entire business to the Draper Building at 77 Main Street in town in the late 1860's.
Following the departure of the printing firm, the Brick House was used as a boarding house for the Academy. It was the spawning ground for social organizations which led to some of the early Secret Societies in the 1870's. For many years Mrs. Tobey was matron of this facility. Starting in 1906 it was used as a dormitory for boys of limited means following the removal of the English Commons. Mr. George Hinman, a resident instructor, led the formation of the Brick House Society in 1907 designed to stimulate intellectual activity among its members and to strengthen social and friendly relations.
The Trustees took over the building following the Seminary move and it was torn down four years later. The razing was part of the landscaping architectural plans of the Olmsted Brothers who claimed that this building would interfere with the two new dorms ---Bishop and Adams Hall. Further, the building itself was in a very poor state of repair.
On June 28, 1880, Rev. William R. Jewett offered $6,000 for the construction of a house for his adopted son Professor William J. Tucker who was then the Bartlet Professor of Sacred Rhetoric at the Seminary. An additional $9,000 was added by Rev. Jewett's sister, Miss Elizabeth Jewett, acting under instructions of the will of the late Mrs. David Jewett. The cellar was in process in April 1881 and the building was completed by December of that year. The architects were Messrs. Merrill and Cutler of Lowell. At first this building was called Jewett House or Queen Anne Dwelling No. 1.
Professor Tucker lived there until 1893 and was followed by Professor E. Y. Hincks of the Seminary until 1914 and then Dr. Fuess of the Academy. The Academy purchased the building from the Seminary but did not do anything with it until 1914 when Prof. Hincks left. It was then repapered and repainted, several rooms were remodeled and hardwood floors were installed on the first level. It became a seven boy dormitory --- two doubles and three single rooms --- under the charge of Dr. Fuess.
Tucker House was moved to Hidden Field in 1928 to create the Vista as described in Chapter V. It remains today on the list of Academy assets as a faculty housing dwelling.
Churchill House presently completes the triad of stately homes along the west side of Main Street opposite the Mall. This building was originally constructed on the northeast corner of Main and Phillips Streets in 1881 as described in Chapter VI and was the residence of Professor John Wesley Churchill, the great master of elocution who taught at the Seminary, the Academy, Abbot Academy and Harvard Divinity School. The building was moved to its present location following his death in 1900 and became a dormitory for ten boys as well as the residence of Prof. J. Winthrop Platner until 1908. Following acquisition by the Academy Trustees Lester Lynde served as the housemaster for thirty years. It remains a dormitory today.
The cottages were the first Academy developments to take place in the southwest quadrant. The first of these, Taylor Cottage, was donated by Melville Cox Day in memory of Professor John Phelps Taylor, Class of 1858, and instructor at the Academy. It was built at a cost of about $8,000 on the south side of Phillips Street about opposite the Farrar House. Ground was broken for this building in September 1891 and construction was complete in April 1893. The three story building built of red brick and white Conway granite is almost square in shape. It provided rooms for ten students and one instructor. Although it was not a "thing of beauty" it was equipped with everything required for comfort and usefullness.
The basement contained the hot water heater, a shower bath and showers. There was a small hall in the center of the building with a set of rooms on each side. The suites consisted of a good-sized study and two bedrooms. Each study contained a fireplace and a closet. The rooms were heated by a coil of hot water pipes, placed in the walls to minimize wasted space. These hot water heaters could be changed to steam heaters in extreme weather.
The halls and mantels were finished in hard wood. The doors and trimmings were made of white pine and were stained. A convenient feature of the house was the attic which was divided up into six lockers --- one for each suite of rooms. These lockers could be used for secure summer storage of possessions as well as temporary usage during the school year.
The following rules were applied for the cottages:
I. Students must apply in pairs, as the school will not undertake to furnish room-mates for single applicants. This is the prevailing rule for double rooms in colleges. II. Students who use tobacco must not apply. This is the rule for the Commons also. III. Students may make their own arrangements for board at any of the tables authorized by the faculty. IV. The fee will be eighty dollars ($80) for each student for the year. This includes the heating and the ordinary care of rooms by a person appointed for this service by the faculty. V. The rooms will not be supplied with any furniture by the school.
Following construction of Taylor Hall, this Cottage was renamed Pemberton Cottage in 1914 in honor of the second Principal of the Academy, Ebenezer Pemberton. It was moved to its present location in line with Andover and Eaton Cottages, near the infirmary, in 1928 to complete the Vista. The bachelor instructor's quarters were converted to a married couple's facility in the early 1950's.
Bancroft Cottage, the second of the set of modern cottages initiated by Dr. Bancroft, was named in his memory. It was also a gift of Melville C. Day being donated in 1892 and completed in 1893. It was built in the old colonial style with a one-story gambrel roof. Entrance was through a large square porch, with a high seat on each side, into a large hall. The rooms on the first floor were patterned after those in Taylor Cottage. On the second floor the instructor's suite consisted of the room on the north east corner together with the hall bedroom. Behind the professors study were two rooms --- a study and a bedroom for a single boy. The hall and bedroom on the third floor were given to the janitor. Each east-looking window had a deep window seat with a bookcase and cupboard on either side.
A fire broke out about 3:45 A.M. on the morning of March 7, 1898, in Room 6 on the second floor. By the time firemen arrived the fire had spread to rooms across the hall but was confined to the second floor. Considerable damage was done on this floor and water damage was sustained on the floor below.
The building was renamed Eaton Cottage in 1901 following completion of Bancroft Hall. The renaming was in memory of James S. Eaton, teacher at the Academy from 1847 to 1866. The instructor's bachelor quarters were also converted to those of a married couple in the early 1950's. The entire cottage was renovated in 1987.
Andover Cottage, considered the best looking of the trio, was made possible by Andover townspeople contributions. The effort was spearheaded by Miss Emily Carter; at a mass meeting held on May 21, 1891, she announced she had already collected $1600 towards the cottage and before the meeting was over she had $7,000. The final cost was about $9,000.
The architect was George Warren Cole of New London, Connecticut, the general contractor was C. B. Mason and the area layout was done by Frederick Law Olmsted. Ground was broken and batters installed in May 1892; the completed building was opened for inspection in January 1893.
The basement contained the same type of heating system installed in the other two cottages as well as bath rooms and showers. The three floors contained suites of rooms to accommodate ten students, a single instructor and a janitor.
The building was situated on an elevated knoll and presented a commanding appearance. Its architecture was more pleasing than the others and its rooms were considered the most attractive. The building was constructed of brick with stone trimmings. An arched entrance opened into a spacious hall to a broad staircase to the rooms above. The inside finish was in hard polished pine. Each room was provided with a fire-place as were the other cottages.
The Trustees decided that the new cottages (Taylor, Bancroft, Andover and Draper) should be income producing. This income was to be used first for maintenance of the buildings, second to help pay the annuities and third to provide help for needy students.
The prices were:
For a double suite, each boy $80.00 For a double suite in Draper $40.00 For a single suite $100.00 For a single room $35.00 to 45.00
It is obvious that at these prices no scholarship boys would be living in the cottages when the rent of a Commons room was $5.00 a term.
A fire was experienced on the evening of April 28, 1930, starting in a pile of rubbish in the cellar. It mushroomed up through the back of the building but was extinguished within an hour. The excitement caused by the great number of people there to watch the fire made it seem much worse than it actually was.
The bachelor instructor quarters in this cottage were upgraded as were the others in the early 1950's and the total building was renovated in 1987.
By the last decade of the nineteenth century there was significant student sentiment to the need for an athletic building equipped with water and showers. There was no building associated with the playing fields on the Old Campus and the Gymnasium (Bulfinch Hall) was not equipped with water. The students collected $1500 in response to a plea by the Athletic Association in 1891 which stipulated that the donations would be repaid at a rate of $500 per year. Mrs. McCurdy and the students themselves made up the balance required to build the $1700 facility.
The plans and specifications for the 32 feet by 24 feet building were available in May 1892 and called for it to be situated on the far side of the existing track where the 220 began --- behind where Adams Hall is now located. The lower floor would contain a lounging room, a lavatory and a store room. The second floor was one large room taken up by the shower baths contained in a 14 by 14 foot square room in the center and lockers around the sides. The attic housed the water tank. The interior was finished in yellow pine and steam heat was provided.
The regulations of this facility were:
1. Use of the baths free to all members of the school. 2. Rental of lockers is at $4 per year --- designed for 2 students. 50 cent key charge --- refundable. 3. Towels (2) rented at rate of 10 cents per bath --- you can use your own 4. Janitor will be responsible for care of the building and rental of lockers, keys and towels. 5. Building open daily 4:30-6:00, Wed. 3-6, Sat. 3-8.
A cinder track had been built on this site later known as the West Quadrangle in 1891 at a cost of $1134.88. The first meet held on it was with Exeter and the home team was victorious. The track burned in 1898 and its successor, an eight lap wooden track suffered the same fate on July 4, 1903. This second track had been built in the fall of 1902; it was a 220 yard but was not wide enough for more than one man except on the straightaway where there was room for three runners. As was the custom, this track was taken up for the summer and stored in a remote part of Brothers Field. Unknown parties burned it there as part of their Fourth of July celebration in 1903. A third track was built later that year which lasted until the sport was moved to Brothers Field in 1913.
The hockey management also used this West Quadrangle area by constructing a rink on the tennis courts near the track. The 160 foot by 80 foot rink was banked at the sides with three foot boards. Use of this rink for Academy hockey games was discontinued after 1898 when the facilities were moved to Rabbit Pond.
The track house was voted to be made into a temporary infirmary in 1907 to be used for contagious diseases; it accommodated 12 patients. Borden Gym was available by now so the loss as an athletic facility was not acute. The second floor was used for wards while the first floor was used for a kitchen, nurses room and lounge area. A system of hot water heating was also installed. In 1910 a new infirmary was established in a building on the Williams estate but this Track House was still used for the contagious cases. The building was moved in 1915 to a site near the power plant.
The first large size dormitory in the southwest quadrant, Bancroft Hall, was completed in 1900 at a cost of $42,375. It was a gift of Melville Cox Day in 1898 under the stipulation that any surplus from his gift after maintenance and annuity charges had been met would be under his control.
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Constructed on the south side of Phillips Street, opposite the Latin Commons, it provided eighteen double suites for the accommodation of 36 boys. This growth made it possible to have better than 20 percent of the student body housed in modern facilities. Like the cottages, Bancroft Hall had toilets and showers that the Commons did not enjoy.
In 1928 it was deemed to be in the way of the Vista and was moved to its present location on the north face of the West Quadrangle. The brick building 60 feet long and three stories high was moved 100 yards and then completely turned around. It had to be elevated as much as 18 inches to clear the contour of the ground. There were a number of Italian workmen employed, each with a jack; when the foreman blew his whistle each jack was given a quarter of a turn. The entire operation was conducted so smoothly that not a single bit of damage was suffered by the building --- not even a broken window pane. Bancroft Hall became a girl's dormitory in 1973.
Bishop Hall was the first dormitory constructed as part of the West Quadrangle. The money for it was raised by the Trustees by selling $500 notes to alumni and friends. This activity picked up the fund raising which had been started for the construction of Day Hall. As time drew on Melville C. Day furnished the balance needed at the same favorable terms as he extended for Day Hall.
Construction by the Holt-Fairchild Co. of Boston was started on March 10, 1911; it was completed that autumn. The floor plans were the same as those designed for Day Hall; the exterior was only slightly changed. It housed 46 boys and two instructors. This dormitory was named for Judge Robert E. Bishop, President of the Board of Trustees from 1900 to 1903.
Adams Hall, the next dormitory to be built on the West Quadrangle, was temporarily called South Hall before its formal naming. It was named for the fourth Principal of the Academy, John Adams. Built in 1912 from money furnished by Melville C. Day, the architect was Guy Lowell. The design of the building was very similar to that of Day and Bishop Halls except that the first floor was devoted entirely to living quarters for married instructors. Three stories in height with two separate entries, it housed 32 boys. It was opened for use in September 1912.
Adams Hall was renovated in 1965 as a result of a gift from Mr. & Mrs. John V. Hickox, Class of 1907. The "Laying of Brick" ceremony was conducted on Alumni Day in June 1965. Edward W. Benner, also Class of 1907, represented the donors. The renovations consisted of updating from the cellar to the roof plus the addition of a wing containing a Common Room and a Game Room. The refurbishment ran behind schedule and several students returning to their "newly furnished" rooms in Taylor and Adams Halls that fall had to bed down in the infirmary or camp out.
Miss Flora Isham of New York decided to give the Academy $30,000 for a new infirmary in honor of her three nephews who were alumni of the Academy ---Charles--- Class of 1871, Samuel --- Class of 1871, and William --- Class of 1873. The proposed facility developed by the architect, Guy Lowell, would have cost $40,000 and had to be trimmed to meet her budget.
Work started on Isham Infirmary in March 1912; the contractor was E. W. Pitman of Andover. Constructed of brick with stone trimming it was old colonial in design. The kitchen, heating plant and laundry were in the basement. The first floor contained a vestibule, a main corridor with wards, main dining room, serving room, matron's room, doctor's room, large sitting room and an operating room. Two large wards were on the second floor and contagious wards on the third. The facility accommodated forty patients.
The furnishings for this infirmary were provided in 1912 by the Class of 1892 as a memorial to Carroll Augustus Perkins, formerly one of its prominent members. This class had been collecting funds for such a building and when Miss Isham donated the building, they donated their fund for the equipping of it.
A new wing was attached to the south side of Isham Infirmary in 1935 at a cost of $100,000. The funds for this were provided from the estate of the late Mrs. Fannie R. Dennis, daughter of James S. Rockwell. The two floors of the addition were similar --- each with a ward, sun parlor and ten rooms of two beds each. The basement contained the kitchen, maids room, laboratory, emergency operating room and an X-ray room.
The facility was granted hospital status on October 19, 1959. It was renovated in 1978 with the north wing being converted to a dormitory for 18 students and a residence house counselor. This wing had previously housed the medical offices and records and commons for the staff workers.
Taylor Hall, at the south terminus of the West Quadrangle, was another gift from Melville C. Day, Class of 1858. It was built in 1913 to the designs of Guy Lowell, the architect, and named in memory of John Phelps Taylor, Mr. Day's classmate and friend.
Work was begun on March 11, 1913, and the dormitory was ready for occupancy in the autumn of that year. The location of the building was selected by the Olmsted Brothers and was intended to develop a quadrangle surrounding the running track and tennis courts which were there at that time. The ground floor of the dormitory was designed to accommodate two married instructors; each suite contained a large living room, three bedrooms, a study, dining room and kitchen. Thirty two boys were housed on the upper two floors in single and double rooms and double suites.
In 1919 plans were drawn up for a proposed New Memorial Building and Tower. The building was to contain a large assembly hall and recitation rooms. It was to be located just northwest of Bishop Hall near the northern end of the old running track. This complex was planned to grow with two large future wings and four new dormitories thereby keeping the focal point of the Academy on the west side of Main Street.
By 1921 it appeared that the cornerstone would be laid in the spring of 1922; however, on February 28 of that year a new plan was requested of Guy Lowell and other architects --- one that was slanted toward two separate buildings. The site of the proposed recitation building was changed to the southeast corner of the old Seminary campus (Samuel Phillips Hall) and erection of the auditorium building was postponed to a later date.
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In January 1922 the Trustees voted to erect Johnson Hall to provide a building for boys then housed in at least four private boarding houses which were being given up. Plans were made by Guy Lowell and funds were raised through the Building and Endowment Fund. Ground was broken in February 1922 and the building was completed in September of that year. It provided room for 56 boys --- 28 on each side with room on the first floor for two married instructors and their families. The first instructor residents were the Guy H. Eaton's and the Frank M. Benton's. It was named for the fifth Principal of the Academy, Osgood Johnson. Johnson Hall became a girl's dormitory in the fall of 1973.
The Phillips Memorial Gateway which had been erected on the east side of Main Street on the Vista in 1914 was moved to its present location at the entrance to the West Quadrangle in 1928.
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When Rockwell House was opened in 1935 it signaled the completion of the West Quadrangle. The cost of this dormitory, approximately $130,000, was derived from a fund left by Mrs. Fannie R. Dennis in 1934. The building was to be named for her father, James S. Rockwell.
Ground was broken for this dormitory on July 9, 1934, and the building was ready for occupancy in June 1935. Similar in size and shape to Johnson Hall, it has an old antique brick finish similar to Bulfinch Hall. Separated into two conventional divisions or entries, it contains 44 single rooms of identical construction. There are also two apartments on the ground floor for married instructors, an apartment on the second floor for a third instructor and a Common Room in the basement. The boys assigned to this dormitory were Juniors who were slightly "older" than those housed in Williams Hall---Juniors who, because of size, maturity, or previous experience away from home, seem to be entitled to a slightly greater freedom. The residents of Rockwell House ate at the Commons. The first faculty occupants of Rockwell House were G. Granville Benedict, Roger W. Higgins and John B. Hawes.
All six dormitories of the West Quadrangle were refurbished in the 1965 to 1969 period; these upgrades included the addition of a Common Room on each dormitory. The efforts were started in the summer of 1965 and completed by September 1969. The funds were provided by Charles V. Hickox, Class of 1907, and his wife for the building remodeling and by Frederick W. Bienecke, Class of 1905, for the exterior work. The architects for the buildings were Strickland, Brigham and Eldridge; for the landscaping, Sasaki, Dawson, DeMay Associates, Inc. The total cost for these efforts came to slightly over $2 million.
As mentioned previously and in Chapter V the Jewett-Tucker House and the Blanchard House were moved from their original construction sites to lots in the Hidden Field area. They became faculty houses in their new location.
In the fall of 1937 five new faculty houses were opened just beyond the existing houses in Hidden Field. These houses were funded by Edward Harkness and were designed/constructed by Perry, Shaw and Hepburn. Unfortunately the effort had been accomplished without faculty advice and the resulting homes were not up to the needs of the future inhabitants. The studies planned for these homes were totally inadequate to a faculty member and the area became known as "Little Siberia". Subsequent renovations remedied the problems. The original residents of these houses were Mr. & Mrs. Dake, French, Baldwin, Barss and Bender.
