The Oberlin College campus went through a significant transformation during the 1950s and 60s. I wrote about the 1964 opening of
the new Conservatory of Music and posted a 1954 article about the demolition of
Dascomb Cottage, a well-known dormitory.
And here's the story of another dormitory that was razed to make room for more modern accommodations for students. Sixty years ago this month, the College was preparing to demolish Lord Cottage, as noted in the article below, which ran in the Journal on November 24, 1964.
As described on the Architect of Oberlin College website, “Lord Cottage, named for its principal donor Elizabeth W.R. Lord, originally provided dormitory accommodations for forty women. The dining room offered table board for and additional thirty-five others. The builder, Adam Feick and Brothers of Sandusky, Ohio, were employed by the College for a number of other buildings on campus, under designing architects. The first story was constructed of brown stone, and the second and third in wood."
A 1936 Alumni Catalog provides some additional information. “Lord Cottage was begun in 1891 and completed in 1892. The total cost was $17,300. Mrs. Elizabeth W.R. Lord gave $11,000 for its construction and equipment, and the cottage was named in honor of her. It provides dormitory accommodations for forty young women. The dining room offers table board for thirty-five others. It is a three-story building, located on the northwest corner of Professor and Forest Streets. The first story is constructed of brown stone, and the second and third of wood. It suffered a serious fire in the winter of 1900, but was immediately rebuilt, and was ready for use again in the fall."Lord Cottage was a popular subject for postcards.
As the 1964 article notes, the demolition of Lord Cottage was part of an ambitious program to build eight new small dormitories that were "well designed, attractive and fireproof."
The particular dormitory that replaced Lord Cottage at 104 S. Professor Street is
Kade House.
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| Photo courtesy Tanya Rosen-Jones and Oberlin College |
3 comments:
I understand the need for modern/safer housing, but local flavor is always lost when old houses are demolished.
Kade is one of the "Language Houses." There are four of them where the goal is immersion in the language you're studying as a major. (Max) Kade is German.
If you're interested in such things, here's the list:
https://www.oberlin.edu/housing/options/language-based-communities
Kade House today is almost as old (60 years) as Lord Cottage was (72 years) when it was demolished.
I was inside the language houses about 20 years ago. They weren't too bad, then, except I kept getting lost because all the signage was in whatever language the house was for. They are concrete and steel, still, it makes you wonder if / when they'll be replaced within the next 20 years.
Then again, the college has a lot of building sitting at 60+ years old. Allencroft (Russia House) was bult in 1861!
Here's a list:
https://www2.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/ChronoofOCBuildings/ChronoOfOCBuildings.html
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