Lathrop House (Vassar College)

Lathrop House was the third residential quadrangle (quad) dormitory built on the campus of Vassar College in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York.[2] The college built Lathrop during a period of rapid dorm construction spanning 1893–1902 during which the older seminary-style model of housing—a single large hall in which all a college's residents lived, in Vassar's case Main Building—was quickly waning in popularity in favor of smaller individual houses.[3] The project began with the opening of Strong House in 1893 and continued with Raymond House in 1897;[2] Lathrop followed in 1901, and Davison House's erection completed the quad in 1902.[4] Construction of the dorm was paid for with Vassar's funds,[5] unlike Strong House which had been paid for by a gift from John D. Rockefeller.[6]

The dormitory is named after Dr. Edward Lathrop, one of Vassar's charter trustees, and carries the full name Edward Lathrop House.[2] Lathrop's daughter, Julia, was a graduate of the Vassar class of 1880.[7]

In 1979, the Intercultural Center, a multicultural student space, moved into Lathrop in spite of initial disagreement by members of the house two years earlier when the idea was first proposed.[8][9] The Intercultural Center later moved out of Lathrop's basement and into its own dedicated space in the early 1990s, at which point it was replaced by a Jewish co-op and kitchen.[10][11][12] In 1995, the Kosher Co-Op moved out of Lathrop and into a newly acquired Jewish house across the street from the college.[13]

Lathrop was designed by the Boston architectural firm of Francis Richmond Allen and J. McArthur Vance who were also responsible for the design of its neighbor, Davison House, in 1902.[14] Formulating a design for these two buildings was not difficult as a template had already been set by way of the preexisting Strong and Raymond Houses. Frederick Law Olmsted, a consultant of design for the college, recommended that any new dorms in the area be built in an "echelon formation" in order to provide for a greater sense of openness. Allen disregarded this advice, instead opting to place the dorm, along with Davison, in "two long unbroken rows of buildings on the bias".[5] Lathrop was ultimately placed north of Strong, across the quad to the east of Davison, and diagonally across from Raymond.[15]

Lathrop stands five stories tall with an additional basement level.[16] The dormitory, Elizabethan in style,[17] is a brick building with elements of brownstone trim.[16] The roof is a Vermont slate and from it rise five chimneys, each built with two wythes of brick and capped with bluestone.[16] There are also multiple cupolas that are framed with wood, include painted louvered slats, and have topped with a coat of terne.[16] The building also has parapets, unlike neighboring Strong.[18][19]

The house is co-ed[20] and currently has a capacity of 180 students.[7] Students in Lathrop, which houses students of all class years, may live in either single rooms, one-room doubles, or three-room triples.[21] Bathrooms are shared by all members of a hall.[21]

• Vassar Residential Life — Lathrop House
• Vassar College panoramic tour — Select Residential from the righthand column, then Lathrop House.