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Lowell House
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Lowell House
Lowell House

Lowell House

Address10, Holyoke Place, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number947
Alternate Names Otto Hall
Previous Building Number 948
Building Root Number 03291
Architect (Renewal)
Architect (Original)
Constructed 1930
Building Acquired 1930
Renewed 2017
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named after Abbott Lawrence Lowell, a Harvard president, and the Lowell family through a gift of Edward Stephen Harkness. The Lowell family has long been connected to Harvard, beginning with John Lowell who graduated in 1721. In 2017 the north wing of the building, which faces Mount Auburn Street, was renamed Otto Hall in recognition of the gift from Alexander Otto (A.B. 1990, M.B.A. 1994).Historical NotesLowell House was completed in 1930 to plans by Coolidge Shepley Bulfinch and Abbott of Boston. The building received the Harleston Parker Medal from the Boston Society of Architects in 1938 for being "the most beautiful piece of architecture, building, monument or structure within the limits of the City of Boston or of the Metropolitan Parks District". In 2017 it was completely renovated as a part of the Riverhouse Renewal program.
Additional Information
Class of 1992 Courtyard
Weber, Paul J. Photographs of Harvard University Buildings and Grounds Taken by Paul J. Weber, Ca. 1929-1931 and 1939. Harvard University Archives call number HUV 2329
“Seven Harvard Colleges Where One Grew Before.” Daily Boston Globe, 27 Sep. 1931, p. B2.
“House Profiles.” The Harvard Crimson [Cambridge, MA], 20 Mar. 1963, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1963/3/20/house-profiles-pbia-foreword-to-freshmenib.
“Pres Lowell Leads Harvard Unit Survey.” Daily Boston Globe, 26 Sep. 1931, p. 13.
Jobson, Kristi L. “Harvard Explained. Did Lowell Really Steal Eliot’s Chandeliers?” Fifteen Minutes Magazine [Cambridge, MA], 7 Nov. 2002, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2002/11/7/harvard-explained-did-lowell-really-steal.
Loengard, John. Photographs of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Celebration of Lowell House Taken by John Loengard, November 7, 1955. Harvard University Archives call number HUM 150
Lowe, Charles U. How Did the Russian Bells Get to Lowell House? 2001. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1532.51
Lowell House. General Information about the Lowell House Bells. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1532.24
Lowell House. General Information by and about Lowell House. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1532
Heskel, Julia. Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott: Past to Present. Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott, 1999.
Avi-Yonah, Shera S. and Franklin, Delano R. “Renovated Lowell House Will Not Display Portrait of Controversial Former University President Abbott Lawrence Lowell.” Harvard Crimson, 26 Mar. 2019, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/3/26/lowell-portraits-removed/.
Caldera, Camille G. “85 Percent of Beds in Renovated Lowell House Will Be in Singles.” Harvard Crimson, 13 Mar. 2019, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/3/13/lowell-renovations-single/.
"Harvard's New "House Plan" Buildings Unfold Their Portals." Daily Boston Globe, 14 Sep. 1930, p. C2.
"Harvard Begings a Notable Experiment." Daily Boston Globe, 30 Nov. 1930, p. SM7.
Harvard University. Descriptive pamphlets of the buildings included in the House Plan - Adams House, Dunster House, Eliot House, Kirkland House, Leverett House, Lowell House, John Winthrop House 1930-1931, [include sketches and plans]. HOLLIS number 003160105.
Hammond, Mason. The Lowell House Bells. 1950. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1532.36
Photographic Views of Lowell House, 1929-1967. (1929). Harvard University Archives call number HUV 606
Sabate, Ignacio. “Lowell House Slated to Be the ‘Most Complex’ Renovation.” Harvard Crimson, 11 Feb. 2016, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/2/11/lowell-two-year-renewal/.
Troianovski, Anton S. “Lowell Bells Get Russian Farewell.” Harvard Crimson, 24 July 2007, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2007/7/24/lowell-bells-get-russian-farewell-moscowlowell/.
Veneziano, A.J. “The Lowell Legacy Revisited.” Harvard Crimson, 11 Feb. 2020, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/2/11/veneziano-lowell-legacy/.
Adomanis, Charles James. Lowell House Theatre Project: A Design for the Conversion of Squash Courts into a Performance Space. 1995, Harvard University, A.B. dissertation.
Furigay, Junina and Shimozaki, Kenton K. “Lowell House Renovation Designs Include New Common Spaces.” Harvard Crimson, 2 Mar. 2017, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/3/2/lowell-renewallosbois-teampleat/.
“Houses in Operation: Lowell House.” Harvard Crimson, 28 Mar. 1932, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1932/3/28/the-houses-in-operation-lowell-house/.
“Lowell House Gets First Picture of Woman Hung.” Harvard Crimson, 22 Apr. 1933, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1933/4/22/lowell-house-gets-first-picture-of/.
Mullen, Thomas A. “Lowell House Plan Would Phase Out Most Single Suites.” Harvard Crimson, 20 Nov. 1976, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1976/11/20/lowell-house-plan-would-phase-out/.
Delwiche, Noah J. “Harvard Will Renovate Lowell House in 2017-2018.” Harvard Crimson, 2 Mar. 2015, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/5/2/lowell-house-renewal-2017/.
Harvard University Archives. Construction Management Records, ca. 1953-1986. Harvard University Archives call number UAV 298.8000
1938 winner of the Boston Society of Architects Harleston Parker Medal.
This building has been designated by the University Planning Office as having a Notable Interior.
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