Marlboro College

Marlboro College - Final Report & Preservation Plan (PDF) 7.1MB

Marlboro College, Marlboro, Vermont

In its short sixty-year history, Marlboro College has established a reputation for providing a rigorous liberal arts education in a close-knit academic community. Marlboro's 360-acre campus houses significant nineteenth-century farm structures and dwellings, representing a Vermont vernacular architecture inspired by the Federal and Greek Revival styles. As part of their recently adopted strategic plan, students, faculty, staff, and trustees alike are committed to being the best possible stewards of their environment, particularly their historic resources. With Getty grant funds, the College is developing a comprehensive historic preservation plan, preparing a National Register Historic District nomination, conducting a feasibility study and energy audit of the historic properties, and designing new courses that directly involve students in the documentation of the campus.

Marlboro College received a Getty grant in 2007 for $120,000 to support campus heritage planning.

Report Summary

Purpose: With Getty grant funds, the College is developing a comprehensive historic preservation plan, preparing a National Register Historic District nomination, conducting a feasibility study and energy audit of the historic properties, and designing new courses that directly involve students in the documentation of the campus.

As part of their recently adopted strategic plan, students, faculty, staff, and trustees alike are committed to being the best possible stewards of their environment, particularly their historic resources.

Historic Designation: No current heritage designation

Marlboro's 360-acre campus houses significant nineteenth-century farm structures and dwellings, representing a Vermont vernacular architecture inspired by the Federal and Greek Revival styles. Mather House contains one of Vermont’s only two extant 19th-century wall paintings.

Style and site list

• • Federal Style
  • Captain Dan Mather House (1810, supplemented by later wing) (repurposed as President’s Residence)
• Colonial Revival Style
  • Barn #1 (ca. 1830) (repurposed as Admissions Hall)
  • Mather Hall (ca. 1840)
  • Apple Tree Wagonshed (ca. 1840) (repurposed for Music Program)
  • Hendricks Hall (ca. 1855) (Dormitory repurposed as Health Center)
  • Dining Hall (ca. 1860)
  • Barn #2 (ca. 1905) (repurposed as Dalrymple Hall classrooms and faculty office space)
  • Sugarhouse (1952-53) (repurposed as Pottery Shed)
  • Blacksmith Shop (ca. 1850) (repurposed for Outdoor Program)

Landscape style list

• Woodland
• Open Lawn
• Orchard
• Distant Mountains

Planning Process

• Collect and process documents, creating library resource for campus history
• Acknowledge new funds and undertake energy audit
• Use Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties to assess past restoration work
• Use Secretary of the Interior’s Standards to create guidelines for future work
• Prepare illustrated campus guide
• Establish plan for creating Historic Register nominations

Outcomes: Products

• Spring 2008 class involving students in campus research and documentation
• Historic Preservation Plan
• Nominations for National Register of Historic Districts (Marlboro College Historic District) and National Register of Historic Sites (Mather House)
• Energy Audits for Historic preservation plan noting 55 contributing buildings
• Increased library resource for campus history

Unique features:

• Preservation of residential, 19th-century wall painting

Advisors

Lisa Christenson
Tad Montgomery and Associates
Keith Abbott (Thermal House)
Hartgen Architectural Associates
Solar Design Associates
Denny Frehsee (Williams and Frehsee, Inc.)