The Collier House’s weathered Victorian exterior may not make it the most interesting building on campus, but its history and character makes it one of the most fascinating places to visit.
Located on the corner of 13th Avenue and University St. in the heart of campus, the Collier House is one of the University’s oldest buildings and will celebrate its 125th anniversary this spring.
Passed each day by thousands of students, the old Victorian house is rarely frequented by the majority of students, and very few may have any knowledge of the house’s importance in the early developments of the University.
“It is one of the most unique structures on campus,” Christine Thompson, planning associate for Campus Planning and Real Estate, said.
Completed in May 1886, the house was built upon 9.5 acres of land owned by Dr. George Haskell Collier, a physics professor at the time.
With no architect officially documented, the house was designed to be a residence for his family. One of the house’s characteristic features is that it was designed with an Italianate style of architecture, making it one of the first structures in Eugene designed in the late 19th century form.
Originally the house was not on University-owned land, had a barn and a large amount of surrounding vegetation, including an orchard.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is that, at the time it was built, the property was on the edge of campus,” Thompson said.
During Collier’s residence, and for a long period afterward, the house was an important piece to the University and community, holding parties, meetings and other social gatherings.
After retiring from the University in 1896, Collier sold the house and land to the University for $5,000. Subsequently, the president of the University at the time, Charles Chapman, moved into the building with his family. Until 1940, every University president used the house for his family residence.
In 1941, the house was transformed from a place of residence to a faculty club where staff could meet. Shortly after being named a Eugene City Historic Landmark in 1976, the house was given its current name as the Collier House in 1980.
After the faculty club closed in 2003, the School of Music and Dance moved into the house.
Today, the inside has been comfortably converted to fit the needs of the early music program. It focuses on music from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
“It is a living, vital, music-making place in the midst of the center of campus,” said Janet Stewart, concert and faculty manager at the School of Music and Dance. “You can hear it when you walk by, and it adds to the color and oral aspects of the center of campus.”
The upstairs of the house, which were the University presidents’ quarters, now house a series of classical instruments, as well as offices for early music professors. Downstairs, the living room of the house is now used for recitals and more intimate concerts.
“The acoustics of the house is much like it would have been in those original days in the sense that music didn’t happen in concert halls,” Steward said. “They happened in homes or in living rooms or special oriented churches where the acoustics are very live.”
The downstairs is also host to a classroom, as well as a few smaller rooms. The basement of the house is where graduate students’ offices and a meeting area are located.
Once a simple a residence, the building has evolved over its 125-year existence from the home of University presidents, a place for faculty members to relax and now the center of the University’s early music programs. Whatever resides there will rest in the center of campus both physically and historically.
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Collier House celebrates 125th year as intriguing campus landmark
Daily Emerald
February 23, 2011
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