North Hall, Administration Building, seen from an upper floor of Young Hall to the southeast
Title
North Hall, Administration Building, seen from an upper floor of Young Hall to the southeast
Subject
North Hall - Exterior
Description
A black and white photograph of North Hall taken from Col Young Hall (previously University, College Hall), southeast side of the building. Cars are parked next to the building.
Chicago architect Leon C. Welch in 1880 was paid for the design of the brick Academy building, a block north and of a similar Italianate style and scale, constructed in 1859 and expanded in 1865. That only twenty-year-old schoolhouse burned in 1879. This 1880 structure, largely a gift from Charles B. and Mary Smith Farwell, parents of Anna Farwell, College Class of 1880, and of Walter Academy student Farwell, is a nostalgic reprise of that beloved original 1859/1865 Lind/Lake Forest University building, with its two stairways. In style it recalls the old pre-1871 Chicago Fire City Hall, with its pedimented gable ends.
By 1892 this second Academy schoolhouse, that looked backward to the early days of the institution, was out of date for a modern preparatory school for boys, and the acting president the Rev. James G. K. McClure that year, a graduate of Albany (NY) Academy and Andover (MA) Academy in the 1860s, envisioned a new expanded school for boys on the eastern model, on a new campus a block south. In 1893 this new Academy opened on what now is South Campus.
North Hall was converted into a dormitory for Lake Forest College. In 1897, as a first step in developing the College campus by McClure, when he became president that year (1897-1901; still pastor of the Presbyterian Church nearby), closed the two stairway entrances and had a central lobby and entry door replace these; this was the first Frost & Granger architects project of many. In the late 1910s and early 1920s North Hall was also the home of a quasi-independent Lake Forest School of Music. By the 1940s the History Dept. offices were on the first floor.
In the early 1950s, after the now separately-goverened College had acquired the 1893 Academy campus (now South Campus), North Hall became the administration building. This function moved from Durand Institute, to be more central to the now three College campuses (based on findings of a Booz Allen study). Various offices have been housed here over the years, with the president's office over the 1897-created central entry. The vestibule was added in the 1960s, presumably by Perkins & Will the campus architects then, or by head of facilities architect Larry O'Donnell. In the 1980s the interior was renovated by the Women's Board of the college, guided by Charlotte Simmons.
Yet the old structure recalls the early days of the College and also post-Chicago-Fire simple architecture, though of fire-proof masonry. Some of the bricks were from clay dug on campus, though other colors on the sides and rear now are apparent. From ca. the 1890s to the 1970s these walls were covered in soot from coal-fired boilers nearby into the mid 20th C. and by ivy.
In 2011 the first floor holds the Business (east) and Register's (west) offices. On the second floor are the president's and Dean of Faculty offices and suites. The third and fourth floors house the Marketing and Communications, Alumni, and Development depts. (Based in part on the entry Elizabeth A. Birnbaum on North Hall in "Lake Forest College: A Guide to the Campus," 2007, pp. 34, with additions by Arthur H. Miller).
Chicago architect Leon C. Welch in 1880 was paid for the design of the brick Academy building, a block north and of a similar Italianate style and scale, constructed in 1859 and expanded in 1865. That only twenty-year-old schoolhouse burned in 1879. This 1880 structure, largely a gift from Charles B. and Mary Smith Farwell, parents of Anna Farwell, College Class of 1880, and of Walter Academy student Farwell, is a nostalgic reprise of that beloved original 1859/1865 Lind/Lake Forest University building, with its two stairways. In style it recalls the old pre-1871 Chicago Fire City Hall, with its pedimented gable ends.
By 1892 this second Academy schoolhouse, that looked backward to the early days of the institution, was out of date for a modern preparatory school for boys, and the acting president the Rev. James G. K. McClure that year, a graduate of Albany (NY) Academy and Andover (MA) Academy in the 1860s, envisioned a new expanded school for boys on the eastern model, on a new campus a block south. In 1893 this new Academy opened on what now is South Campus.
North Hall was converted into a dormitory for Lake Forest College. In 1897, as a first step in developing the College campus by McClure, when he became president that year (1897-1901; still pastor of the Presbyterian Church nearby), closed the two stairway entrances and had a central lobby and entry door replace these; this was the first Frost & Granger architects project of many. In the late 1910s and early 1920s North Hall was also the home of a quasi-independent Lake Forest School of Music. By the 1940s the History Dept. offices were on the first floor.
In the early 1950s, after the now separately-goverened College had acquired the 1893 Academy campus (now South Campus), North Hall became the administration building. This function moved from Durand Institute, to be more central to the now three College campuses (based on findings of a Booz Allen study). Various offices have been housed here over the years, with the president's office over the 1897-created central entry. The vestibule was added in the 1960s, presumably by Perkins & Will the campus architects then, or by head of facilities architect Larry O'Donnell. In the 1980s the interior was renovated by the Women's Board of the college, guided by Charlotte Simmons.
Yet the old structure recalls the early days of the College and also post-Chicago-Fire simple architecture, though of fire-proof masonry. Some of the bricks were from clay dug on campus, though other colors on the sides and rear now are apparent. From ca. the 1890s to the 1970s these walls were covered in soot from coal-fired boilers nearby into the mid 20th C. and by ivy.
In 2011 the first floor holds the Business (east) and Register's (west) offices. On the second floor are the president's and Dean of Faculty offices and suites. The third and fourth floors house the Marketing and Communications, Alumni, and Development depts. (Based in part on the entry Elizabeth A. Birnbaum on North Hall in "Lake Forest College: A Guide to the Campus," 2007, pp. 34, with additions by Arthur H. Miller).
Creator
Welch, Leon C., architect
Date
1980 - 1981
Rights
Format
still image
Language
eng
Type
TIFF
Identifier
BLDG 1.7.1.4
Resolution
228 pixels per inch
Dimensions
3978 × 2923 pixels
Original Format
photograph
Physical Dimensions
17.7 x 12.7 cm (7 x 5 in)
Files
Citation
Welch, Leon C., architect, “North Hall, Administration Building, seen from an upper floor of Young Hall to the southeast,” Digital Collections - Lake Forest College, accessed November 17, 2024, https://collections.lakeforest.edu/items/show/2668.