The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Merion Hall

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Merion Hall (front facade, view from the southwest), Bryn Mawr College

Institution Name: Bryn Mawr College
Original/Historic Place Name: Merion Hall
Location on Campus: 804 New Gulph Rd.
Date(s) of Construction:

1979-1885

original construction Hutton, Addison

Designer: Addison Hutton
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Gothic revival, Romanesque revival, Victorian (Glossary)
Significance:
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: granite

Walls: granite

Roof: slate

Function:

1885-present

residence hall

Narrative:
Merion Hall has sustained relatively few major changes since its construction, although like most dormitories, there have been regular upgrades of systems, some changes connected the number and type of occupants per room, and application of new finishes. Overall, the building is in very good condition. The windows have been replaced.

Merion Hall is significant as one of two buildings of the original design for the college by Philadelphia architect Addison Hutton, and was the original dormitory building that accompanied Taylor Hall, then the sole academic and administrative building. Merion Hall is thus significant as the work of a master and for its associations with the origins of Bryn Mawr College.

References:

Andropogon Associates, and Emily Cooperman. Bryn Mawr College Campus Heritage Initiative, Funded by the J. Paul Getty Initiative. Report. Philadelphia, PA: Andropogon Associates, Ltd., 2004.

Horowitz, Helen Lefkowitz. Alma Mater: Design and Experience in the Women's Colleges from Their Nineteenth-Century Beginnings to the 1930s. New York: Knopf, 1984.

Webb, Leslie A. Bryn Mawr College Historic District. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1984.