Fay House
Address10, Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number544
Alternate Names
Nathan Ireland House,
The Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women
Building Root Number
03101
Architect (Original)
Nathaniel Ireland
Constructed
1807
Building Acquired 1885
Building Acquired 1885
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named after Samuel Prescott Phillips Fay (1778-1856), who owned the house in the 1830s. Fay was a graduate of Harvard College and later went on to become a probate judge for Middlesex County.Historical NotesFay House dates to 1807, with major additions in 1870 and the 1890s. It was purchased by Radcliffe College, then known as the Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women, in 1885 as the college's first permanent building. Today it is the administrative headquarters of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.Additional Information
Gardiner Room
Sheerr Room
Atkinson Room
“The Harvard Annex. An Old Historic Cambridge Mansion Remodeled.” Boston Herald, 6 Oct. 1885, p. 4.
Radcliffe College Architectural Drawings, 1885-2006. (1885). Schlesinger Library call number RGXXXIII
Fay House Records 1891-1929, Schlesinger Library call number RA.A/F282.
Baker, Christina Hopkinson. The story of Fay house. Harvard University Press, 1929. HOLLIS number 000579041.
“The Harvard Annex Addition.” Cambridge Tribune, 24 Sept. 1892, p. 1.
“The Harvard Annex Addition.” Cambridge Tribune, 30 July 1892, p. 7.
This building has been designated by the University Planning Office as having a Notable Interior.