The Lawrenceville School
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THE LAWRENCEVILLE SCHOOL
Across from the small commercial center of the village is a school campus that reflects the highest quality of late nineteenth century architecture and landscape design. The Lawrenceville School, established with nine students in 1810 as the Maidenhead Academy, underwent a major expansion in the 1880’s with a new campus designed by one of America’s premier architectural firms, Peabody and Stearns of Boston, and by the nation’s first and foremost landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. Olmsted also designed New York’s Central Park, Stanford University and the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. Their combined genius produced residences that so respected the individuality of each boy that no two rooms are alike, and each is situated so as to receive a share of the day’s sun.
The campus was designed around a circular green, the Olmsted Circle, with a naturalistic layout and a huge variety of plantings. Its major buildings include the bold, massive, Romanesque-inspired Memorial Hall, a chapel, and several grand Queen Anne style residence houses. Today, after more than a century of hard use, the Circle remains a singular glory of America’s private schools.
In addition to being a part of the township’s Historic District and the National Register Historic District, this part of The Lawrenceville School has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Secretary of the Interior. It is the highest level of historic designation by the Federal government, reserved for only a small number of nationally significant properties.
In recent years, some of the more famous alumni of the school have included Connecticut Governor Lowell Weicker, the late Malcolm Forbes, Michael D. Eisner, Chairman and CEO of Walt Disney Co., Brandon Tartikoff, former Chairman of Paramount Pictures Corp. and Huey Lewis of Huey Lewis and the News.
Kinnan House
This 1912 Colonial Revival structure with its L-shaped floor plan and uncoursed stone, has a two-story front portico with Doric columns and modillion lined cornice. It is the only colonial revival structure on campus and contains many impressive classical features. Originally, the building housed the literary and debating societies. The school’s alumni provided the funds for this building through the leadership of A.P.W. Kinnan, Class of 1873, and as a result, the building was named for him.
Haskell House
This is a Georgian style structure with a T-shaped floor plan built of uncoursed stone quarried from Cherry Grove Farm located near Carter Road. The recessed front doorway is an example of classical architecture with pilasters and a pediment. This building was originally constructed in 1832 to provide additional classrooms for the school.
Hamill House
Constructed ca. 1814 in the Georgian style with an L-shaped floor plan, this building was one of the first buildings to be built on the campus. It was erected on the first land to be owned by the school, land which cost $25. The stone was also quarried from nearby Cherry Grove Farm. The fourth floor was added in 1849. The house was named for the third headmaster of the school, Samuel McClintock Hamill, who served as head of the school from 1837 to 1883.
Kennedy House
This structure, built in 1889, is one of the five Circle dormitories in the Queen Anne style with half timbering in the gables and ashlar window lintels and sills. It is actually an assemblage of parts from the other four dormitories, an experiment in thrift. The building is named for John S. Kennedy, one of the executors of John Cleve Green, the school’s late 19th century benefactor.
Dickinson House
This building, ca. 1885, differs from the other five dormitories designed by Peabody and Stearns in that while it was erected in the Queen Anne style, it has square two-story turrets with conical roofs. The dormitory also has ashlar window sills and lintels. The building is named after John Cleve Green’s great-grandmother, Martha Dickinson.
Woodhull House
This Queen Anne style dormitory, ca. 1885, was built as a result of the bequest of John Cleve Green. It is named for Henry Woodhull Green, brother of John Cleve Green. Woodhull was destroyed by fire in 1892, and rebuilt and enlarged in that year.
Griswold House
Architectural features of half timbering on the gable ends and oriel windows make this building, ca. 1885, distinctly different from the other Circle dormitories. The building was named for John Cleve Green’s wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Helen Griswold.
Cleve House
This is the first of the five Queen Anne style dormitories to be built on the Circle, ca. 1885, and is named for John Cleve Green, a Lawrenceville resident, who left more than $1 million to the school.
Edith Memorial Chapel
Built in the Romanesque style, ca. 1895, with architectural features made popular by H.H. Richardson, this landmark is laid out in the shape of a Latin Cross and has a massive three story tower with a one and one-half story turret to the right of the front door. The chapel facade contains a center rosette window. The abstract detail of the transept windows was designed and constructed by L.C. Tiffany. The building was extended some years ago to accommodate an elaborate organ. It was erected as a result of a special bequest of Sarah Helen Griswold Green, wife of John Cleve Green, in memory of her daughter Edith.
Memorial Hall
This Romanesque style building, ca. 1890, remains basically unchanged with its long rectangular structure, balanced by small perpendicular pavilions. It is considered by officials of the school to be the most forceful, most important building on campus. A noted architectural feature is the decorative detail on the Corinthian capitals of the columns and beneath the windows, similar to medieval masonry. The building is dedicated to John Cleve Green.
Upper House
This structure was constructed ca. 1892 to serve as a dormitory for seniors in order to give these older students more independence. The building retains much of its original Romanesque architectural character.
Foundation House
This Queen Anne style, two and one-half story building, ca. 1885, was also designed by Peabody and Stearns. It is now the residence of the headmaster of The Lawrenceville School. When John Cleve Green bequested a large sum of money to the school, he established the John Cleve Green Foundation. The foundation consisted of four legatees, who directed the disbursements of the funds and held title to the school’s property from 1879 to 1898. This building was named in their honor.
