Waldo Hall is built in the style known as Richardsonian Romanesque [1], though perhaps more accurately it could be best described as "Burggrafian" as Charles H. Burggraf had a rather unusual and ecelectic taste in architecture. The man favored "fortress-like" buildings, and added generous sprinkles of elements from Gothic, Romanesque, and Renaissance styles. [2] Some of his buildings, such as Waldo Hall, or the old Elks' Lodge in Albany (which unfortunately burned down in the 1970s) are adorned with tall, octagonal towers, and stteply sloped roofs. However, buildings such as the St. Francis Hotel, and the Albany Hotel, look like large boxes with windows in them. His style varied heavily depending on the project at hand.
"Chateauesque" French Renaissance Revival influences are apparent in the building, namely in the form of its numerous turrets and towers. Chateauesque buildings are designed to look like the monumental houses of the French aristocracy during, as the name implies, the Renaissance. Wikipedia accurately describes Châteauesque buildings as typically being "built on an asymmetrical plan with an exceedingly broken roof-line and a facade composed of advancing and receding planes." The style was introduced into the Pacific Northwest from Canada, and was popular in the states of Washington and Oregon in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. [2] Burggraf was especially fond of turrets and towers, and many of his buildings included them.
Waldo is described as having a "shallow hipped roof with steep front gable." It is made of brick, with "ornamental cream-colored pressed brick cover[s]" decorating the front and side exteriors. [1] Red brick is used to decorate the back, windows, and on corners.[1] An "arch of pioneer sandstone carved into a leaf pattern" marks the two-story tall main entrance; “Waldo Hall” and “1907” are engraved in the arch. Two short granite columns comprise the base of the arch. [1] "Naturalistic forms" are used to decorate the towers on the front of the building. [1]
Works Cited:
[1] Oregon State Parks Services, "Oregon Historic Sites Database."
Accessed March 4, 2013. http://heritagedata.prd.state.or.us/historic/index.cfm?do=v.dsp_main.
[2] Lynne Stinnett, "Waldo Hall." (unpublished manuscript., OSU Special Collections and Archives Research Center, 1980).
[3] Christina Glab, "Waldo Hall: The Life and Times of an OSU Dormitory, Structural and Historical Insight."
(unpublished manuscript., OSU Special Collections and Archives Research Center, 1989).
Waldo Hall under construction, circa 1906.
Waldo Hall, 1907
OAC Campus, January 1909
Waldo Hall, ca. 1912
Waldo Hall covered in ivy
The foundation for the Memorial Union being laid, circa 1927. Waldo Hall is plainly visible in the background.
Waldo Hall, circa 1920. Trees have been grown in the middle of the paved roundabout.
Waldo Hall with students strolling in front, circa 1920.
Women in front of Waldo Hall during summer school, circa 1936. A curb has been added to the roundabout sometime in the late 1920s.