The Beck-Warren House, also known as the Warren House, is a historic house located in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. Now on the campus of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, this large Greek Revival wood-frame house was built in 1833 for Professor

Charles Beck Charles Beck or Karl Beck (August 19, 1798 – March 19, 1866) was a German-born American classical scholar, Harvard professor and friend of Charles Follen. Biography Beck was born in Heidelberg. His merchant father died when Beck was young, a ...

, and was later purchased and adapted by the physically disabled

Henry Clarke Warren Henry Clarke Warren (1854–1899) was an American scholar of Sanskrit and Pali. Warren along with Charles Rockwell Lanman founded the Harvard Oriental Series in 1891; on his death in 1899 he left $15000 towards its publication. Life He was th ...

, a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

scholar. Since 1899 it has belonged to

, for whom it presently houses offices. The house was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1996.

Description and history

The Warren House stands in the eastern part of the Harvard campus, on the west side of Prescott Street, as part of an entire city block (just east of

Harvard Yard Harvard Yard, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the oldest part of the Harvard University campus, its historic center and modern crossroads. It contains most of the freshman dormitories, Harvard's most important libraries, Memorial Church, sever ...

) of Harvard-owned buildings. It has a -story main block, which is covered by a front-facing gable roof, with single-story side-gabled wings extending to the sides that are flush with the front facade. The main facade faces west, into a pedestrian area providing access to the other Harvard buildings on the block. The main block's corners are pilastered, while those of the wings have wooden quoining. The gable is fully pedimented, with a half-round window at the center. A single-story porch extends across the central three bays, its flat roof and entablature supported by smooth Doric columns. The interior features a distinctive blend of Greek Revival and Colonial Revival features, the latter done during the ownership of Henry Warren, handicapped by a spinal deformity from childhood. The second-floor alterations were particularly made to adapt to his needs. The house was built in 1833 by

, a Professor of Latin at Harvard. It was built on land that was previously part of the large estate of

Francis Dana Francis Dana (June 13, 1743 – April 25, 1811) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, jurist, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1777–1778 and 1784. A signer of the Articles of Confederat ...

and subdivided by his heirs. It was acquired in 1891 by Henry Clarke Warren, serving as his home until his death in 1899. Warren made numerous alterations to the interior to accommodate his physical disability, including an overly sized heating system which he was said to run up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. When Henry Clarke Warren died in 1899 he

bequeathed A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably. The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the ...

the house to Harvard. When first acquired, it was used to house the philosophy library, and then the English department. It was moved in 1900 (within its historic lot) to make room for the construction of the

Harvard Union Harvard Union, now known as the Barker Center and once known as the Freshman Union, is a historic building on Quincy and Harvard Streets in Cambridge, Massachusetts. History The union was designed McKim, Mead & White and built in 1900; it was the ...

to the south. Since 1997, it has served as offices for other Harvard organizations.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Houses completed in 1833 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Cambridge, Massachusetts Harvard University buildings Harvard Square Greek Revival architecture in Massachusetts

Description and history

See also

References