Historic District Walking Tour

The HighlandsNeighborhood

T he Highlands

Neighborhood

Walking Tour is one

of three self-guided

residential tours developed to highlight the

Borough’s architectural heritage. Each tour

encompasses a

part of two districts

included in the

National Register

of Historic Places, listed in 1995. Properties

within the districts contribute to the architec-

tural history of

developing State

College and offer

a full range of

Early 20th Cen-

tury styles.

State College · Pennsylvania · Incorporated 1896

H O L M E S - F O S T E R

C O L L E G E H E I G H T S

T H E H I G H L A N D S

T his Highlands Neighbor-hood Walking Tour is one

of three self-guided residentialtours developed to highlight thearchitectural history of State College. Each tour encompassesa part of two districts included inthe National Register of HistoricPlaces.

The two National Register districts, Holmes-Foster/High-lands and College Heights, are made up of properties that contribute to the rich architec-tural heritage of State College.Ranging from vernacular Victorians to the InternationalStyle, from Craftsman Bungalowsto Colonial Revivals, from mail-order English Cottages to highlysophisticated Tudor Revival-stylefraternities, these districts offer a virtual field guide of early 20thcentury architectural styles.

State College borough map from the1930s showing historic district areas.

The Highlands Historic NeighborhoodThe Highlands, part of the Holmes-Foster/High-lands District, encompasses land and historic build-ings associated with the residential history of StateCollege from its incorporation in 1896 to 1941 and thebeginning of World War II. It is roughly bounded byHighland Alley to the north; High and Keller Streetsto the east; and Irvin and Prospect Avenues to thesouth. Atherton Street represents its western edge.

At an elevation of 1200 feet at its highest point,Highlands is an appropriate name for this area imme-diately south and east of Penn State and the centralbusiness district. In 1909, the Highland Park devel-opment became one of the first additions to extendthe Borough’s southern limits. A little over a decadelater, owner and contractor John Henszey and devel-oper Eugene Lederer introduced a new Highlandsdevelopment that offered “the most desirable lots ofFoster, Fairmount, Prospect and Hamilton, all withinone-half mile of the post office,” along with thepromise of developing “the most beautiful fraternitysection in the country.”

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Fraternity Mansions and Family HomesEarly in the 20th century, classical themes and cor-rect interpretations of European styles became thebasis for residential architecture across the country,as tastes shifted away from the Victorian styles of thepast. Large and elaborate period houses, similar tothose designed by architectural firms for wealthyclients in cities, were being designed in State Collegeby area architects for national fraternity associations.In an eight-year period, 1925–1933, more than twen-ty such houses of between 7,000 and 15,000 squarefeet were built, many on large lots with appropriatelandscaping — landmark representations of ColonialRevival, Neoclassical, Tudor Revival, and other his-toric styles.

State College, PennsylvaniaIncorporated in 1896

Most Pennsylvania communities had peaked andthen receded in building activities when State Col-lege, enjoying the economic stability provided byPenn State, was in its building heyday.

As early as 1904 the State College Times cited ahousing shortage. Even though some proportion offaculty were able to achieve home ownership, manyinstructors, support staff, and off-campus studentssought rental space. By 1912, more than seventybuilding tradesmen — contractors, carpenters,painters and paperhangers, plasterers, plumbers,stone and brick masons — were providing their ser-vices to a town with a population of only 1,650.

Subdivisions were developed to meet this buildingboom for a local population with a sophisticated inter-est in architectural housing choices. This develop-ment coincided with the increased availability ofnationally stylish residential options providedthrough pattern books and by mail-order companies,and locally through faculty members with architec-tural design expertise.

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The Highlands is home to an impressive collection of richlydetailed fraternity houses.

At the same time, smaller period style houseswere being selected by State College residents —some designed by area architects, some chosen frompattern books, and many selected from mail-ordercompany catalogs.

Mail-Order Houses

Sears, Roebuck and Co., the Aladdin Co., and theGordon-Van Tine Co. all were offering State Collegeresidents not only the latest in style choices to meetspace needs, budgets, and specific tastes of theirowners, but total house packages with first-ratematerials. Building parts arrived by railroad, precutand numbered. Sears also offered household furnish-ings to enhance the design, along with a mortgageplan to help owners acquire their new homes. Itincluded a guarantee that promised satisfaction orSears would pay all shipping costs and refund thepurchase price.

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Once the lots and foundations were ready, thehomes were assembled by local builders or possiblyeven by the purchasers themselves. In some cases,local contractors were engaged by Sears and

construction was supervised bya company representative.Records from one of those localcontractors, John Henszey,show that materials werereceived from Philadelphia,Kushequa, Summerdale andBolivar, Pennsylvania; Camden,Newark, and Bayonne, NewJersey; and as far away asDetroit. Shipping dates werestaggered so that materialsarrived as needed, carried toState College on the BellefonteCentral Railroad.

The Highlands, home of John and Elizabeth Hamilton, now Delta Upsilon Fraternity

Examples of mail-order catalog offerings showing exteriors and floor plans.

While only a sampling of historic properties havebeen highlighted for this walking tour of the High-lands Neighborhood, tour takers are urged to lookfor examples of other outstanding properties andinteresting architectural features as they explore thisarea of State College. The tour begins at the north-eastern edge of the fraternity district. Parking isavailable at the McAllister Street Parking Garage or along some side streets.

Delta Upsilon — 229 Locust LaneLocated along a lane of locust trees and called

The Highlands, this property was originally a QueenAnne-style farmhouse that belonged to John andElizabeth Hamilton. Hamilton was a prominent local

farmer who served for many years as Penn State’streasurer and superintendent of farms; Mrs. Hamil-ton was a daughter of Moses Thompson, co-ownerof the Centre Furnace Iron Co. and the owner ofmuch of the land upon which the Borough and theUniversity developed. The house, built in 1890, wasdesigned by Bellefonte architect Robert Cole. In the 1920s, its Victorian architectural details werereplaced by those in the Tudor Revival-style when itbecame the home of Delta Upsilon fraternity.

Acacia Fraternity — 234 Locust LaneFrederick Disque, a Penn State professor of

architecture, reused the barn foundation from theHamilton farm when, in 1925, he designed this Colo-nial Revival-style property. You may want to walkaround to the East Prospect side of the street toview the front of the building. This is the first offour fraternities on the tour designed by Disque inthe 1920s.

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Locust Lane Apartments — East Foster and Locust Lane

Although planned on a 1920s development map as a fraternity site, John Henszey constructed thiswell designed apartment building in 1929. Henszey,a grandson of John and Elizabeth Hamilton and great-grandson of Moses and Mary Irvin Thompsonof Centre Furnace, was a major contributor to thedevelopment and the architectural appearance of the Highlands neighborhood as was his partner,Eugene Lederer.

The urbanization of newly developing State Collegewas greatly aided by the addition of apartmentbuildings such as this one, and especially by the relo-cation and rebuilding programs of the fraternities inthe Henszey-Lederer subdivision west of Pugh Street.National fraternity organizations took advantage ofthis building program to advance the Henszey andLederer goal of developing “the most beautiful frater-nity section in the country.”

Sigma Pi — 303 Fraternity RowSuperior detail and distinctive massing make

this one of the finest examples of Tudor Revival-style architecture in the fraternity district. Featuresto notice: a combination of coursed (layered in horizontal rows) rubblestone and brick, that coversthe building’s frame construction; half timberingdecoration between brickwork and a carved stoneentrance; a steeply pitched slate roof; steep crossgables; leaded and diamond paned-windows; and amassive front chimney. Built in 1931 by O.W. Houtsof State College, it was designed by P. J. Bartholo-mew, who also was the architect for Beta Theta Pion the Penn State campus.

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Alpha Tau Omega — 321 East FairmountThe front façade of this Neoclassical-style

fraternity is dominated by a huge two-story roundedfront entry porch or portico and a roof balcony sup-ported by classical columns. Other classical detailsinclude a swan’s neck pediment over the door and aPalladian window above the doorway. Flemish bondbrick (alternating brick headers and stretchers) andcolored keystones in the window arches add to thedetail of this well-proportioned building. Estimatedto cost $50,000 when the building permit was takenout, it was designed by architecture faculty memberFrederick Disque, and built in 1927.

Alpha Sigma Phi — 328 East FairmountA slate roof, entrance gable, casement win-

dows, and three large stone chimneys with bricktops are some of the stylistic features of this hand-some stone-faced Tudor Revival-style fraternity,built in 1930.

Phi Kappa Theta — 338 East FairmountRandomly placed square-cut stone (ashlar)

was used for this Colonial Revival fraternity, built in 1928. Doric pilasters (flattened columns) on either side and a fanlight (semicircular window)above the door, and 8 over 8 (panes) windows, aresome of its classical features.

Lambda Chi Alpha — 351 E. FairmountAccording to a 1925 issue of the State College

Times, the pre-construction estimate for this frater-nity was $50,000. Tudor Revival architectural fea-tures include an exterior of stone, plaster, and halftimbering, flat arches over the windows, and a brickarch around the doorway.

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5Three English Cottages —437, 441, & 447 East Fairmount

Three Sears English Cottages were built side-by-side in 1933 by contractor John Henszey. Sears rec-ommended brick facing, but all three owners choseto use stone, undoubtedly reflecting the local avail-ability both of stone and qualified stonemasons. Thehouses are similar in size,all have steep gables andstone-decorated door-ways, two have distinctivefront chimneys. TheSears catalog describedthe three this way: theCroydon, “a small house, absolutely modern, withouta single trace of faddishness;” the Stratford, “the lat-est idea in English architecture;” and the Hillsborowith the addition of shutters and wrought iron “togive the right feeling.”

357 East ProspectA. Lawrence Kocher, a former head of

Penn State’s Department of Architecture, designedthis English Cottage for himself in 1921–22. He leftPenn State in 1926 to head the School of Art andArchitecture at the University of Virginia, and laterbecame managing editor of the Architectural Record.For four decades he was a historic preservationadvocate and an expert on the restoration and con-servation of landmarks, serving as supervising archi-tect for the restoration of Washington Irving’s homein Tarrytown, NY, and on the advisory committee

for Colonial Williamsburg.As a practicing architect,he experimented withdesign methods and mate-rials and was an earlymember of the Inter-national Congress of Modern Architects.

Tau Kappa Epsilon — 346 East ProspectPercy Ash, a member of the Altoona archi-

tectural firm of Hersh and Shollar (responsible forAltoona’s City Hall), was the designer of this 1930Tudor Revival fraternity at the corner of Garner and East Prospect Avenue. It was built by the State

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College Construction Co., the firm owned by H.O.Smith, a graduate of Penn State’s architectural engineering program and former faculty member.The exterior wall is faced in uncoursed (unevenlylayered) rubblestone; the sharply peaked roof isslate. Features of note: a four story front gable withstone trim around the door, front chimney, bay win-dow, and diamond-paned stained glass.

Sigma Chi — 400 East ProspectBuilt in 1928 originally as Delta Tau Delta,

this fraternity is another landmark example of theTudor Revival style. It is faced with randomly placedashlar stone and decorative half timbering. Thegabled entranceway has a Tudor style doorwaytrimmed in a darker cut stone, and a two-story tur-reted stairtower topped by a weathervane. Diamondshaped, leaded casement windows in the dormersand a second floor oriel window are other architec-tural features to notice.

413 East ProspectO.W. Houts was the builder of this Colonial

Revival-style mail-order home from Sears, “a designof perfect symmetry.” Rather than the wide woodsiding recommended by Sears, Houts faced this1937 house with stone that had originally been partof old Old Main. A fanlight and sidelights above andon either side of the front door are sheltered by anentrance hood.

Pi Kappa Alpha — 417 East ProspectFlemish bond brick and stucco with decor-

ative half timbering have been combined in thedesign of another fine example of the Tudor Revival-style, also built by the State College ConstructionCo. in 1930. Of special note: the stone surroundingthe front door, the coat of arms above it, and thechimney pots topping its large chimneys.

Kappa Delta Rho — 420 East ProspectThis excellent example of the Tudor Revival

style was designed by Clarence Bauchspies, a 1932Penn State master’s degree graduate, registeredarchitect, and faculty member. It was built in 1933.Some outstanding features of this well-maintainedfraternity are: the use of random ashlar stone and

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decorative half timbering; a slate roof with flaredeaves; roof dormers; casement windows; and threefront gables, including an entrance gable that has atwo-story stained glass bay window, with a turretedroof and weathervane.

Two Sears Houses — 505 & 511 East Prospect

As described by Sears, the Lynnhaven, “a cheerfulwell-proportioned residence with a deep set doorand flower boxes,” and the Winthrop, with an exter-ior that “expresses good taste,” are two more of agroup of Sears houses built by John Henszey in thelate 1920s and early 1930s in this eastern section ofThe Highlands. Other examples of the popularLynnhaven are located in both the Holmes-Fosterand College Heights neighborhoods.

500 East ProspectStucco, half timbering, and decorative brick-

work were used by John Henszey for this charmingEnglish Cottage,built in 1933. It wascalled the “honey-moon cottage,”given by his moth-er as a wedding giftto Henszey and hisbride.

Mature trees, many of them fifty or sixty years old and with circumferences of over sixteen feet, line and canopy the streets in the Highland District.Early on the Borough recognized the importance ofits tree resource, establishing the Street Committeein 1903 to oversee street tree planting, and theShade Tree Commission in 1926. As a result, StateCollege is recognized annually by the National ArborDay Foundation for its commitment to its urban forest resources.

Delta Tau Delta — 429 East HamiltonBuilt in 1929, this symmetrically designed

ashlar stone building has a wide gabled entrancewith an arcaded front porch and matching sidewings. Each wing has exterior end wall chimneyswith chimney pots.

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Tour route

Noted propertyalong main route

Noted propertyoff main route

Parkinglot/garage

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Chi Phi — 360 East HamiltonA sweeping corner entrance is one of the

outstanding features of this 1931 example of theTudor Revival style. Roughly coursed rubblestone,half timbering, a flared slate roof, and a semi-circu-lar front porch with a conical roof, are some otherarchitectural features of this stylistic building.

331 East HamiltonAmerican history professor Wayland F.

Dunaway and his family chose this Colonial Revival-style plan for their home (1930) on East HamiltonAvenue. Be sure to notice the beautiful tulip tree inthe front yard. It has been called the “foresters’tree” because of its resistance to insects, includingthe gypsy moth. It attains the greatest height of anynative hardwood and is known for its cream andorange cup-shaped flowers that bloom in late May.

323 East HamiltonMrs. Edward Steidle, the British-born wife

of the Dean of the College of Mineral Science, wanted their home to look like an old English country cottage and selected a plan and buildingmaterials accordingly. Constructed in 1929, thebuilder was H.O. Smith. Rough red brick was used,some laid with sharp ends showing, to support thelook of an older house. Other details include asteeply pitched roof with random sized slate, leadedstained glass, heavy plank doors, and chimneys withterra cotta tops in the shape of chess pieces(castles). Recent owners added extensive plantingsof evergreens and flowering trees, and a large curvi-linear brick entrance, using old bricks from thedemolished Fraser Street School.

320 East Hamilton AvenueWhen this home was built for the J.W. Hen-

szey family in 1922, it was located on a large wood-ed lot that had been part of the Hamilton farm, andconsidered to be out-of-town. Mrs. Henszey was thedaughter of John and Elizabeth Hamilton. Designedby architecture professor A. Lawrence Kocher, hedescribed properties like this one as “modern Colo-nial country houses” in the Architectural Record, andstressed the importance of an appropriate landscapeplan. John Bracken, a Penn State graduate and

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department head from 1926 –1957, was the land-scape architect for the property. His plan is stillmostly intact and is an excellent example of Brack-en’s naturalistic style.

300 East HamiltonContractor John Henszey built his own home

over a period of years (1936 – 42), patterned some-what after one he had built earlier in CollegeHeights. Architects P. Boyd Kapp and DeanKennedy worked with Henszey on both projects.Sharp gables, a turreted entrance, massive chimney,narrow wall-gabled windows, and a copper-roofedbay with case-ment windowsare a few of itsarchitectural fea-tures to notice.Also part of theproperty, JohnHenszey’s office is faced in stone, with a separateturreted tower. Stone entrance gates add to theauthenticity of this excellent example of a TudorRevival residential property.

262 East HamiltonArchitecture professor Frederick Disque

designed single family homes as well as fraternities.The Dutch Colonial at 262 E. Hamilton, with its traditional gambrel roof and shed-roof dormer, wasbuilt in 1925 and faced with local dolomite. Arch-itect-designed cabinets and teak floors, said byDisque to have been from a World War I battleship,were additional features of this property. He alsodesigned the Colonial Revival house next door.

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624 & 628 Locust LaneH.O. Smith was responsible for matching

English cottages with attached garages on LocustLane. Built in 1929, these twin residences have first floors of stone, and second floor stucco dorm-ers with decorative half-timbering. Sharply pitchedroofs, large front chimneys, and gable entrancesalso emphasize the characteristics of English Cottage architecture.

Theta Delta Chi — 305 East ProspectOne of the outstanding features of this 1924

Neoclassical-style fraternity is its entrance porch,extending across theentire front of thebuilding. A chinois-erie or oriental-stylerailing surrounds thebalcony; the door-way has a recessedplaster arch and

sidelights. H.O. Smith’s State College ConstructionCompany was the builder.

317 East ProspectA steep slate roof broken by three hipped roof

dormers in the English Cottage style was chosen by H.O. Smith for his own nearby stone-veneeredhome, built in 1925. Two wings to the left of therecessed main entrance are faced in a combinationof stone and brick. The larger of the two has agabled dormer over a large rounded wooden plankdoor trimmed with heavy iron hinges. Smith includ-ed Moravian tiles, alock from a local iron-master’s mansion,and chestnut panel-ing from the bleach-ers of Penn State’sOld Beaver Field forthe interior of thishome.

Sigma Phi Epsilon — 524 Locust LanePenn State professor Frederick Disque was

the architect for this landmark fraternity in theSpanish Colonial Revival style, the only one of its

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24kind in the district. Built in 1926 and faced in stuc-co, note its prominent three-story front gable andtwo-story wings with arcaded porches and balconiesat either end. Cut stone surrounds the roundeddoorway; first floor windows are full length and alsorounded.

Delta Sigma Phi — 508 Locust LaneThis fraternity, also designed by Frederick

Disque and built in 1927, offers another landmarkexample, this time in the Italian Renaissance Revivalstyle. It has a stucco exterior, decorative limestonecorner detail called quoining, full-length first floorwindows, recessed entry porch, arcaded porches,stone door surrounds, and a hipped roof.

Phi Sigma Delta Sigma — 240 East Prospect

Built in 1927, this fraternity is another good exam-ple of the Colonial Revival style. Palladian-style win-dows, named for 16th century Italian architectAndrea Palladio, are located in each gable end.Other details to notice: decorative limestone quoin-ing at the corners of the building, a belt or string-course running horizontally across the façade, and afront entrance with Ionic columns.

218 East ProspectThe J. Orvis Keller family chose this stone-

faced Colonial Revival style with a two storygable entrance for their home on East ProspectAvenue. Sunrooms (such as the one to the left)and sun porches were popular additions to thesesymmetrical houses built in the 1920s and 1930s.Keller was a major contributor to Penn State’seducational extension efforts; the ConferenceCenter on campus is named in his honor.

South Pugh Street, an early main thoroughfare from College to Fairmount Avenues and the out-skirts of State College, was lined with large roominghouses such as these on the 500–600 blocks. The combination of 21⁄ 2 - story Four Squares and vernacular Queen Annes are reminders of housingused by faculty, staff, and students in the early1900s. Both styles were available through mail-order catalogs, but Four Squares with their pyramidal roofs were especially popular.

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526 South PughBuilt in 1925, this stylish Tudor Revival-style

fourplex offered a unique architectural alternative tothe adjacent multiple family properties along PughStreet.

100 block of East ProspectThe 100 block of East Prospect offers exam-

ples of most of the nationally popular housing stylesof the early 1900s. The oldest are a Queen Anne (128 E. Prospect) and a vernacular Victorian acrossthe street (125 E. Prospect). The bungalow at 127East Prospect has a characteristic long, low-pitchedroof extending over a large open front porch.

500 South Allen Street FraternitiesTheta Chi (1933), and its neighbor Phi Sigma

Kappa (1927), serve as familiar architectural land-marks on the 500 block of South Allen Street. Theywere built by H.O. Smith’s State College Construc-tion Co. at what was then the edge of town, in theFederal Revival style, a style of balanced symmetryin proportion and decoration.

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29524, 518, & 510 South AllenThese three handsome properties, two faced

with stone and clapboard and one with brick, werebuilt by 1925. Each was home to Penn State staffmembers and their families. C.W. Stoddart wasDean of the School of Liberal Arts (524); F. W.Haller was a horticulturist and superintendent of the College’s vegetable gardens (518); and John W.White was a professor of soil technology (510).

157 West ProspectIn sharp contrast to its neighbor on the corner

to the west, this 19th century farmhouse is the old-est property in the Highlands neighborhood. It isknown as the Foster farm house and was built about1860. Originally locatedjust up the hill on Fair-mount Avenue, it wasmoved in 1917 to makeway for the larger ColonialRevival home built at thesoutheast corner of Fraserand Fairmount.

527 South FraserThe Moderne Style found favor with some

State College homeowners and builders. This 1939triplex with its simple lines and lack of ornamenta-tion provides a good example of a newly emergingarchitectural style of the 1930s. A matching exampleis at 524 South Atherton Street.

520 South FraserA cottage, called Camelot, reminiscent of an

English wayside inn, was designed in 1922 by Davidand Madeline Campbell. He was a professor of engi-neering drawing. The Campbells initially had prob-lems finding a builder and a lending agency becauseof the unconventional style of the house, but when

completed by con-tractor John Hoy itwas enthusiasticallyreceived by the com-munity. It was listedin the National Reg-ister of HistoricPlaces in 1979.

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160 West FairmountAcross the street and up the hill from

Camelot, this five-bay Colonial Revival home wasdesigned by Arthur W. Cowell, the first departmenthead of Penn State’s Department of LandscapeArchitecture. He designed it for his colleague,Stevenson Fletcher, a professor of horticulture andlater Dean of the College of Agriculture. It replacedthe Foster farm house that was moved down the hillto West Prospect, but the giant horsechestnut treeon the property was apparently already well estab-lished when the Fletchers built next to it in 1917.

Fairmount SchoolA. Lawrence Kocher joined forces with archi-

tecture department colleague Frederick C. Disqueto design the first portion of the Fairmount School,then the local high school, in 1920. The building has undergone many changes and several additionsover the years, and now is used as both an elemen-tary school and the location of the junior-seniorhigh Alternative Program. A special interior featureare two 1946 murals: The Pioneer, designed andpainted by artist Stuart Frost, while a student atPenn State; and Mount Nittany, a community projectunder the direction of art educator Dr. ViktorLowenfeld, that combined the efforts of State Highfaculty members, alumni, and students.

Continue west either along Fairmount Avenue to Burrowes Street or follow Hill Alley — behindCamelot — to the Burrowes Street walkway to Fairmount between the two large stone residences.

234 West Fairmount (southeast corner)Located at the crest of a hill, on a street appro-

priately called Fairmount, this 21⁄2-story stone housewith its many windows offers an excellent view ofthe Tussey Mountain to the south. It was built in1922 in the Colonial Revival style for electrical engi-neering professor E.C. Woodruff, and is anotherexample of architect A. Lawrence Kocher’s “modernColonial country house.” A carefully detailed Geor-gian-style doorway met Kocher’s requirement thatthe doorway be “the center of interest.” A one-storyside sun porch with large half circle windows andbalcony to the right of the doorway and a porte

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cochere or carriage entrance, also in stone, to the left are some of its other outstanding features. Nowcalled The Fairmount, it is being operated as a bedand breakfast.

300 West Fairmount (southwest corner)This large 1917 Dutch Colonial Revival-style

home, with a first floor faced in limestone and thesecond story in wood shingles, was probablydesigned by owner Paul B. Breneman, a Penn Stateprofessor of mechanics and materials of construc-tion. It was built by William Kennedy. Three genera-tions of Kennedys were involved in architecturaldevelopment of State College. William Kennedy’sfather, Tom, was a contractor who built the FraserStreet School in 1897 and served as the first schoolboard president. Son Dean Kennedy was the archi-tect (with partner Boyd Kapp) of the handsomeJohn Henszey home (#22 on the tour).

420 South BurrowesProfessor John Dale built this 21⁄ 2 -story

brick home with a wrap-around porch on a farmfield, on the outskirts of State College, in 1912. He used native oak and cherry lumber, includingcherry beams for the dining room ceiling, andincorporated stained glass windows and a secondfloor bay. A red barn is still located behind this well-maintained property — only four blocks from Col-lege Avenue and amidst a greatly expanded StateCollege Borough.

411 South BurrowesThe University Baptist and Brethren Church,

built in 1920, is one of several handsome landmark

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chose it for hisown home in Davenport, Iowa.You can see otherexamples of #535at 343 EastProspect and 501West Fairmount.

Central ParkletCentral Parklet, a wonderful stopping point

along the tour, was established through the effortsof Stevenson Fletcher, a former Penn State deanwho served as president of the State College Boardof Education. He advocated setting aside centrallylocated land areas for use by the community, withthis park providing an example. Plaques commemo-rating his efforts and information about the historyof the turn-of-the-century drinking fountain, relocat-ed in the parklet as part of the State College Centen-nial Celebration in 1996, are nearby.

Memorial FieldThe parklet offers a glimpse of the earlier

educational core of State College, with the NittanyAvenue School (now the administrative offices forthe School District) and Fairmount, the former highschool, in view. State College High School’s Mem-orial Athletics Field, located in what was once calledThe Hollow (a limestone sinkhole), was designed byJohn R. Bracken, a Penn State graduate and head ofthe Department of Landscape Architecture for morethan 30 years. Each year the Department selects aJohn R. Bracken Fellow to honor him, chosen frominternationally known scholars and professionals inlandscape design and interpretation.

Follow the walkway between Central Parklet andMemorial Field to Allen Street and then turn left toBeaver Avenue.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon — 200 East BeaverBuilding costs for this ashlar stone-veneered

fraternity in the Colonial Revival style were esti-mated at $75,000 according to a 1925 edition of the State College Times. Particularly noteworthy featuresinclude its huge front portico supported by large

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churches in or adjacent to the Highlands historicneighborhood.

313 South BurrowesDepartment of agronomy professor C.F. Noll

and his family selected a two-story Craftsman-stylebungalow with a full-width front porch for their

1920s home. Thenatural quality ofmaterials and col-ors were empha-sized in theselarger variations oftraditional bunga-lows — wood

stained in earth tones, finishes in stucco or shingles,and projecting rafters, such as those visible in thegabled dormer that opens onto a balcony.

300 Block — South BurrowesSeveral Queen Anne-style homes line the

300 block of South Burrowes, one of the more intactolder streets in town. Built about 1910 in similarstyles and with similar building materials, they wereprobably constructed from mail-order companyplans. Sears, Aladdin, and Gordon-Van Tine alloffered vernacular Victorianpatterns such as these in the1910s and early 1920s. Of spe-cial note is the careful refur-bishing that has taken placeon several of these properties.Newly painted and newly land-scaped, some of them arebeing reused as small officebuildings.

229 West FosterBusinessman Henry Fisher and his wife,

Rose, chose this stylish home, pattern #535, from aGordon-Van Tine mail-order catalog in 1924. It wasdescribed as “a beautiful home…a favorite with thediscriminating home builder,” offering “simplicity ofgood taste, the charm of fine design…a show placein fine residence districts in scores of cities.” Itappears to have been at the top of the company linesince Gordon-Van Tine president E.C. Roberts

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Historic District Walking Tour

The Highlands

Neighborhood

The Highlands

Neighborhood

Walking Tour is one

of three self-guided

residential tours developed to highlight the

Borough’s architectural heritage. Each tour

encompasses a

part of two districts

included in the

National Register

of Historic Places, listed in 1995. Properties

within the districts contribute to the architec-

tural history of

developing State

College and offer

a full range of

Early 20th

Century styles.

The Holmes-Foster

Neighborhood

Walking Tour is one of

three self-guided residen-

tial tours developed to

highlight the Borough’s

architectural heritage. Each tour encom-

passes a part of two districts included in the

National

Register of

Historic

Places, listed in 1995. Properties within the

districts contribute to the architectural his-

tory of developing

State College and

offer a full range

of Early 20th

Century styles.

Historic District Walking Tour

Holmes - FosterNeighborhood

T he College

Heights Neigh-borhood WalkingTour is one of threeself-guided residential tours developed to highlight the Borough’s architectural heritage.

Each tour encom-passes a part of twodistricts included in the National Register of Historic Places, listed in 1995. Properties within the

districts contribute tothe architectural history of developingState College and offera full range of Early20th Century styles.

Historic District Walking Tour

College HeightsNeighborhood

The Highlands Historic Neigh-borhood brochure has beendeveloped by the HistoricResources Commission, Borough of State College.

For additional copies or information about the walkingtours, contact:

State College Borough Planning Office118 South Fraser StreetState College, PA 16801Phone: (814) 234-7109

TEXT

Jacqueline Melander Connie Christiansen

PHOTOGRAPHY

Jacqueline Melander

DESIGN

David Lembeck

ILLUSTRATIONS

Sears, Roebuck Catalog ofHouses, 1926 and 117 HouseDesigns of the Twenties pub-lished by The Athenaeum ofPhiladelphia and Dover Publi-cations, Inc.

For additional information:

Houses By MailStevenson, Katherine Cole and H. Ward Jandl,Preservation Press, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Washington, DC, 1986.

The Comfortable House: North American Suburban Architecture 1890–1930

Gowans, Alan, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1986.

A Field Guide to American HousesMcAlester, Virginia and Lee, Alfred A. Knopf, NY, 1988.

Doric columns, its stone lions on either side of thedoorway, and its imposing location set back fromBeaver Avenue.

Glennland Building — 205 East BeaverBuilt in 1933 by local businessmen O.W.

Houts and Dr. Grover Glenn, the Art Deco-styledGlennland Building represents several firsts: at five-stories, it was the tallest building in town until the1970s; with forty apartments, the largest; and withthe first indoor swimming pool, it served not onlythe community but was used by Penn State for itsmen’s swimming classes and team meets. The poolwas removed in the 1960s, but pool tiles are still visi-ble in some of the ground floor offices.

Centennial Walkway — McAllister AlleyBefore ending the tour, be sure to visit

McAllister Alley to see the State College Centennialsculpture, a bronze pig and two piglets; and toperuse more than 2,900 engraved bricks with the

names of presentand former StateCollege residents — a pedestrianwalkway connecting College Avenuewith Calder Waythat commemoratesthe Borough’sCentennial Celebra-tion of 1996.

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