From brick clad to progress pride flag—Founders Hall

Once a brick-clad carriage house and stable, Founders Hall was built in the early twentieth century as a backyard addition to Judge Lynde Harrison’s (LLB 1860) residence at 52 Hillhouse Avenue. Purchased by Yale along with Steinbach Hall in 1923, the building was once used by the Yerkes Laboratories of Primate Biology, and later by the Prospect Hill School. A northern addition, completed in 1956, accommodated the Department of Astronomy’s move into building and allowed its historic Reed refractor telescope to be located within the rooftop observatory. In 1978, the building was extensively remodeled, and it was joined with the School of Management’s (SOM) neighboring Watson Center. Founders Hall’s elevations were then painted dark green to match the new complex, and a new, Swenson Terrace was added on the east side of the building. After SOM’s relocation to Edward P. Evans Hall, the building now houses the McDougal Graduate Student Center, Office of LGBTQ Resources, among other student-oriented resources.

Building details

135 Prospect Street
Architect, 1902: Unknown
Renovation, north addition, 1956: Andrew F. Euston BA 1929, MFA 1940
Major renovation and addition, 1978: Edward L. Barnes
Style: Italianate
Area: 13,800 GSF; two floors, plus basement
Use: Student offices