The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Quinby House

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Institution Name: Bowdoin College
Original/Historic Place Name: Psi Upsilon House
Location on Campus: 250 Maine St.
Date(s) of Construction:

1900-1903

original construction Stevens, John Calvis

Designer: John Calvis Stevens
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Other (Glossary)
Significance: architecture
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: stone

Walls: wood shakes

Roof: asphalt shingles

Function:

ca. 1903	Greek letter society (fraternity house)
ca. 2004-present (2006)	residence hall (student residence)

Narrative:
Quinby House was designed by noted architect John Calvin Stevens in the 1900s. Anderson calls the style presciently modern, although it was built in 1900-1903. John Calvin Stevens' career began in Portland, Maine, in the office of Francis Fassett, Architect of Adams Hall at Bowdoin.
Formerly the Psi Upsilon House, Quinby is now a student residence house and is one of the only remaining shingle-style houses in the area. This renovation received two awards from Architectural Portfolio 2001 one for the interior and one for the exterior for Education Design Excellence in an American School & University.

References:

Anderson, Patricia McGraw. The Architecture of Bowdoin College. Brunswick, ME: Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 1988.

Myers, Denys Peter. The Maine Catalog. Augusta, ME: Maine State Museum Publishers, 1975.

Shettleworth, Earle G., Jr., and Frank A. Beard. Federal Street Historic District [including Bowdoin College]. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1976.