Claverly, Erected With Eye to Fire Protection, Ushered In University's Plush Gold Coast Era

The builders of Claverly Hall 60 years ago were just as fire-conscious as are the present residents.

In 1894, the year the building was opened, a Boston paper stated that "complete destruction of the building by fire is practically impossible," since each hallway could be divided into three fireproof compartments by closing iron fire doors.

After Saturday's $65,000 blaze in Claverly, Cambridge building authorities will inspect the dormitory to determine whether additional safety devices will be necessary. The iron doors, which were not used to delay the configuration Saturday, may be made automatic to increase their efficiency, building authorities said yesterday.

Both difficulty in closing the fire doors by hand, and the time wasted in doing so during a fire, point toward such a measure.

Ancient as Claverly may seem today, it was once the University's most popular residency. It was the first of 12 Gold Coast dorms--privately owned, luxurious apartments where students often retained personal valets.

Claverly was described in those days as having "the only really secluded location to be obtained near the square . . . quiet and secluded, for Linden Street is used by only a few dozen people a day." The building had a "solid mahogany vestibule . . . marble floors . . . walls sheathed with antique oak . . . stairways lighted by stain glass windows . . . and speaking tubes and electric bells to the janitor."

At its height of popularity, freshmen were elected to Claverly and rents for five room suites ranged up to $800 per annum.

Into the Shade

Charles D. Wetmore'89, builder of Claverly, soon had rivals who tried to put it into the shade. A freshman History instructor completed plans to build a new hall--Randolph--across the street, thus shutting the sunlight from Claverly's lower floors. In vain, Wetmore tried to persuade city authorities to increase the 20-feet wide Linden Street.

But Wetmore bought the flat iron shaped block on Mt. Auburn and Bow Streets, now graced by the Lampoon building, and threatened to build an "enormous two story dormitory" to eclipse the light from the proposed Randolph Hall. A compromise was reached when Randolph (now D to I entries of Adams House) was set back ten feet from the sidewalk.

Served Crew

Upon completion Randolph was "chiefly occupied by young men of football fancies," while Claverly "gradually became identified with rowing interests."

By 1903 the University began to worry about the exodus from the Yard to the Gold Coast. The Dean's office circulated "pro-Yard propaganda" in the various College publications.

The war against Claverly and the rest of the Gold Coast started in 1913 when the University decided that it must emulate Yale and Princeton by owning all its dormitories.

"When the college-owned dorms were not sufficient, the building of privately owned apartments was almost encouraged through necessity," Dean Briggs explained the problem, "and now it is well-nigh impossible to throttle these private dormitories."

The University therefore bought out the private owners of the Gold Coast dorms. Claverly was purchased for $190,000 in 1920, $160,000 less than it cost to build. In 1892 the original estimate placed the price of the building at $175,000, but Wetmore changed his plans completely and Claverly ended up costing twice as much.

A newspaper reporter visited Claverly in its first year and described a typical suite: The walls were "sheathed up to five feet in rich old carved wood, and above that covered with a red rich wall-paper of the costliest material."

He was impressed with the six-foot fire places, bounded by great oaken pillars jutting into the room. The window shades he described as "dark red silk, hanging from solid brass, and the window seat below is of a like color in plush." Bed rooms were furnished "In the regulation style: a heavy braze bedstead, a bureau, and a dressing case with a big swinging mirror."

Electricity and Gas

The hall was equipped with both electricity and gas. "A chandelier hung from the ceiling with four electric jots and a like number of gas candles."

The most expensive suites were the four famous "ebony rooms" which were furnished "In the richest of the darkest shades of antique oak clear to the ceiling."

A handball court was built at the south east corner of the building, but this has long fallen into disuse, as has the swimming pool of white tile and marble next to the court. The pool is usually kept locked; firemen had to break down the door during Tuesday's blaze.

Several famous men lived in Claverly during the Gold Coast days; among them was Theodore Roosevelt Jr. '09, who came to Harvard in 1905 while his father was President. He lived a "moderate" life, though not the "simple undergraduate life" that his father preached when addressing the College the preceding spring. The President, while an undergraduate during the 1870's, had lived in a wooden house on Winthrop Street, but son "went Gold Coast" with a $350-a-year Claverly suite.