Skip to Main Content

Seabury Residence Hall: Home

Seabury Women's Residence Hall

Excerpt from Building A College: An Architectural History of Berea College[1]

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 
 

Louise Lovett Seabury Women's Residence Hall, 1957-1958

Architects: Frederick R. Louis of Hortstern, Louis and Henry, Louisville, KY

Construction: Robert D. Short Construction Company, Lexington, KY

Ground Broken: April 25, 1957

Dedication: September 27, 1958

Cost: $155,000

Charles Ward Seabury, College Trustee (1928- 1963) and chairman of the Board's Finance Committee, gave funds to build this residence hall that was named  for his wife,  Louise  Lovett Seabury. Architectural plans  were  started in  1956 but ground was not broken until April 25, 1957. Seabury Women's Residence Hall was  constructed on the approximate  site  of  Morningside  Cottage, the second College Hospital. This ninety by forty feet rather severe colonial style common bond red brick building with  a slate hip roof was  built  on the southeast edge of the ridge a bit below grade. It was built to house thirty-four women students.

Because it is below grade, a retaining wall was built some thirty feet north of the front entrance. Its first floor had seven rooms for fourteen  women in addition to a resident director's apartment that occupied the east corner  of that  floor. On the second floor were ten rooms that opened into a connecting hallway, whereas the plan of the ground floor incorporated a lounge, laundry, kitchenette, and a flagstone terrace that extended from the south face of the building (Berea Citizen, April 25, 1957, ;October 2, 1958,  1). A simple fan lit pedimented entrance decorates Seabury's symmetrical design. A double door is placed  in a low basket handle  arch which is also fan lit. All windows are crowned by flat brick arches. However, the fan lit arched end windows, the roof and the cornice are constructed of wood. Mrs. Seabury assisted in the planning, color scheme and choices of furniture design. The furnishings and built-ins were then fabricated by the College Woodcraft Department. Seabury was dedicated on September 27, 1958; at the same time Governor Faubus of Arkansas closed public schools in Little Rock in an attempt to avoid desegration. Berea had integrated its campus almost a decade earlier. Today, Seabury Residence Hall sits neatly between the renovated James Hall and the Kettering Residences for Women.
 

------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Citation: Boyce, Robert Piper. Building A College: An Architectural History of Berea College. Self-published. Berea, Ky: Berea College Printing Services, 2006, p139-140.


NOTE: This content is reproduced here with permission of the author and is COPYRIGHT PROTECTED. Fair Use access granted for educational purposes only, therefore, this content may be used in the classroom or classroom assignments without prior permission as long as proper citation is provided. For commercial use, publication, or reproduction, permission must be obtained from copyright holder or owner.

Works Cited

Boyce, Robert Piper. Building A College: An Architectural History of Berea College. Self-published. Berea, Ky: Berea College Printing Services, 2006, p139-140.

Related Guides by Subject