The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Fayerweather Hall

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Institution Name: Amherst College
Original/Historic Place Name: Fayerweather Laboratory
Location on Campus:
Date(s) of Construction:

1892-1894	original design McKim, Mead & White Olmsted, Frederick Law, Sr.
1999-2000	complete exterior renovation and interior remodeling

Designer: McKim, Mead & White; Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr.
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Romanesque revival, Beaux-Arts classicism, Colonial revival (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, history, landscape
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: stone blocks

Walls: brick (solid walls with internal vents), terra cotta

Roof: wood and slate

Function:

1894-1928	academic department building (chemistry and physics)
1928-1968	academic department building (physics)
1968-2002	other (student social rooms, snack bar)
1968-2002	faculty offices
1968-2002	classrooms
1968-2002	theater (small)
1968-present (2006)	academic department building (studios and storage for Fine Arts Department)
2002-present (2006)	faculty offices (Fine Arts Department)
2002-present (2006)	classrooms

Narrative:
Fayerweather was built between 1892 and 1894 with $100,000 from the estates of Daniel B. Fayerweather, a wealthy leather merchant. It is the first and perhaps the best of several buildings on the Amherst campus by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, noted especially for the Boston Public Library and Pennsylvania Station in New York City. William R. Mead (Amherst College class of 1887) played an active lifelong role in building the campus. He studied architecture with Russell Sturgis, Jr., while Charles F. McKim worked with H. H. Richardson, whose influence is apparent in the Fayerweather building.

The site for Fayerweather was chosen by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., who also did the landscaping. Olmsted had been consulted on other campus matters as early as 1864 and was awarded an honorary M.A. degree in 1867. In 1883 he was engaged to furnish a complete plan for the grading, roads, and walks of the college grounds. Complete exterior renovation and interior remodeling took place in 1999-2000.

References:

Frederick Law Olmsted Collection. Archives and Special Collections, Robert Frost Library, Amherst College, Amherst, MA.

Gaines, Thomas A. The Campus as a Work of Art. New York: Praeger, 1991.

King, Stanley. The Consecrated Eminence: the Story of the Campus and Buildings of Amherst College. Amherst, MA: Amherst College, 1951.

Page, Max. "Outdoor Classrooms: Five Schools in Massachusetts Vie for Attention by Hawking Their Wares--In Vastly Different Garb." Architecture 92 (October 2003): 21-22.

Tavener, Christopher. Fayerweather Hall [Amherst College]. Inventory report. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Commission, 2000.