Roble Hall
Encyclopedia
Roble Hall is a dormitory at Stanford University
. It was built in 1917 to house women students. It is the oldest dormitory at Stanford that is still in use as a dormitory. It takes its name from the Spanish
word for oak tree, although its pronunciation has been anglicized from “robe-leh” to “robe-lee”.
, who also designed the old San Francisco Public Library in 1917 (now housing the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
). It was considered an architectural jewel of the Beaux-Arts architecture movement. It is three stories high and is built in the shape of an H, with A, B, and Center wings, along with a semi-attached C wing which was added later. Built as a women's dormitory, and later used exclusively for freshmen women, it was converted to a co-ed residence in 1968.
The residence underwent an extensive seismic retrofit in 1987-1988, reopening in September 1989, just weeks before the Loma Prieta earthquake
, which it survived without damage. Additional retrofitting was performed during the summers of 2006 and 2007.
The original residence for Stanford women was a different building, also named Roble Hall. It was built in haste in 1891 to house the 80 women of the first Stanford undergraduate class. Designed by concrete pioneer Ernest L. Ransome
, it survived the 1906 earthquake but was replaced by the current Roble Hall in 1918. The original Roble was renamed Sequoia Hall
, used as a men’s dormitory until 1957, and demolished in 1996.
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. It was built in 1917 to house women students. It is the oldest dormitory at Stanford that is still in use as a dormitory. It takes its name from the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
word for oak tree, although its pronunciation has been anglicized from “robe-leh” to “robe-lee”.
History
Roble Hall was designed by architect George KelhamGeorge W. Kelham
George William Kelham was an American architect most active in the San Francisco area.Born in Manchester, Massachusetts, Kelham was educated at Harvard and graduated from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1896...
, who also designed the old San Francisco Public Library in 1917 (now housing the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is a museum in San Francisco, California, United States. It has one of the most comprehensive collections of Asian art in the world....
). It was considered an architectural jewel of the Beaux-Arts architecture movement. It is three stories high and is built in the shape of an H, with A, B, and Center wings, along with a semi-attached C wing which was added later. Built as a women's dormitory, and later used exclusively for freshmen women, it was converted to a co-ed residence in 1968.
The residence underwent an extensive seismic retrofit in 1987-1988, reopening in September 1989, just weeks before the Loma Prieta earthquake
Loma Prieta earthquake
The Loma Prieta earthquake, also known as the Quake of '89 and the World Series Earthquake, was a major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area of California on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. local time...
, which it survived without damage. Additional retrofitting was performed during the summers of 2006 and 2007.
The original residence for Stanford women was a different building, also named Roble Hall. It was built in haste in 1891 to house the 80 women of the first Stanford undergraduate class. Designed by concrete pioneer Ernest L. Ransome
Ernest L. Ransome
Ernest Leslie Ransome was an English-born engineer, architect, and early innovator in reinforced concrete building techniques. Ransome devised the most sophisticated concrete structures in the United States at the time....
, it survived the 1906 earthquake but was replaced by the current Roble Hall in 1918. The original Roble was renamed Sequoia Hall
Sequoia Hall
Sequoia Hall is the home of the Statistics Department on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California.-History:In 1891, the original building opened as Roble Hall, a three-story women's dormitory. Roble Hall housed the first women admitted to Stanford...
, used as a men’s dormitory until 1957, and demolished in 1996.