View source for University House, Berkeley

{{Short description|Historic building in Berkeley, California}}
{{use MDY dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name                     = University House
| nrhp_type                =
| designated_other1        = Berkeley Landmark
| designated_other1_date   = February 25, 1991<ref name="BAHA">{{cite web|title=Berkeley Landmarks|publisher=Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association|url=http://www.berkeleyheritage.com/berkeley_landmarks/landmarks.html|access-date=2013-03-04}}</ref>
| designated_other1_number = 161
| image                    = University House UC Berkeley.jpg
| caption                  = University House (west end)
| location                 = Oxford St., [[Berkeley, California]]
| coordinates              = {{coord|37.8745|-122.2623|region:US-CA_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin                 = United States Oakland#California#USA
| built                    = 1911
| architect                = [[Albert Pissis]]
| architecture             = Mediterranean villa
| added                    = March 25, 1982
| area                     = {{convert|2.6|acre}}
| mpsub                    = {{NRHP url|id=64000062|title=Berkeley, University of California MRA}}
| refnum                   = 82004652<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
}}
The '''University House''' is a residence and venue for official events on the campus of the [[University of California, Berkeley]]. Designed by the architect [[Albert Pissis]] and completed in 1911, it was formerly named '''President's House''' while it served as the home of the president of the [[University of California]], starting with [[Benjamin Ide Wheeler]] and ending with [[Robert Gordon Sproul]]. Since 1965, it has been the home of the Chancellor of the Berkeley campus.

==Design==
[[File:University House (Berkeley, California) 02.jpg|thumb|left|Western and southern facades, featuring topiary clock]]
The exterior of the building is designed as a classical Mediterranean villa; the front fascia faces south onto the main campus axis, which runs east into the [[Berkeley Hills]] from the Crescent Lawn on Oxford Street.<ref name=NRIS/> The front entrance is in a triple-arched, recessed portico, and the east and west ends of the mansion have round bays with balustrades.<ref name=NRIS/> The interior and grounds were designed by [[John Galen Howard]] in 1910 after it was decided to finish it as a residence for the President.<ref name=NRIS/> The grounds surrounding University House are {{cvt|2+1/2|acre}} and include a rose garden, greenhouse, and cutting garden.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://chancellor.berkeley.edu/about/university-house |title=University House |publisher=UC Berkeley, Office of the Chancellor |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref> The formal gardens lie east of the structure.<ref name=NRIS/> One of the features added later is a large [[topiary]] [[clock]], southwest of the residence, donated by the Swiss government.<ref name=NRIS/><ref name=BD&C>{{cite web |url=https://dac.berkeley.edu/university-house |title=University House |publisher=UC Berkeley, Disability Access & Compliance}}</ref>

The front door opens onto a reception hall with a stairway to the second floor; a living room lies to the west and drawing and dining rooms lie to the east.<ref name=NRIS/> The Chancellor (and their spouse) usually live in the private quarters on the second floor of the home, while the ground floor is used for receptions and other events. The home features art on loan from the [[Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive]].

It is the only actual residence in the historic central core of the Berkeley campus, as all student housing lies outside the core campus, but within walking distance.

==History==
Under the original ''ROMA'' design by French architect [[Émile Bénard]], there was to be a "jurisprudence" building at the present-day site.<ref name=Jones99/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb300004wb |edition=Revised |title=Illustrated History of the University of California |author=Jones, William Carey |date=1901 |chapter=Appendix: Revised Plans for the University Buildings |chapter-url=https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb300004wb;NAAN=13030&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00024 |publisher=Students Cooperative Society |location=Berkeley, California}}</ref> Bénard had won a competition to design the entire University of California campus sponsored by wealthy benefactor [[Phoebe Apperson Hearst]] in September 1899 with his entry entitled ''ROMA''.<ref name=Jones99>{{cite journal |url=https://archive.org/details/jstor-1627470/ |title=Architectural Plans for the University of California |author=Jones, William Carey |date=November 17, 1899 |pages=721–724 |volume=X |number=255 |journal=Science}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125010296479/ |title=The International Competition for the Phoebe Hearst Architectural Plan for the University of California |date=1899 |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref>{{rp|34}} However, he declined an appointment as the campus's supervising architect<ref name=BD&C/> and John Galen Howard, who had placed fourth in the competition, was appointed instead in December 1901.<ref name=Woodbridge-ch05>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/johngalenhowardu0000wood/ |title=John Galen Howard and the University of California |author=Woodbridge, Sally Byrne |url-access=registration |date=2002 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, California |isbn=0-520-22992-4 |chapter=5 {{!}} Supervising Architect for the Hearst Architectural Plan: 1901–1903 |pages=57–67 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/johngalenhowardu0000wood/page/56/mode/2up}}</ref>{{rp|57}}

The commission for what would become President's House was let separately to Albert Pissis, who created a design in a classical Mediterranean style.<ref name=Woodbridge-ch04>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/johngalenhowardu0000wood/ |title=John Galen Howard and the University of California |author=Woodbridge, Sally Byrne |url-access=registration |date=2002 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, California |isbn=0-520-22992-4 |chapter=4 {{!}} Postcompetition Reversals: 1900–1901 |pages=39–56 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/johngalenhowardu0000wood/page/38/mode/2up}}</ref>{{rp|45}} Construction began on the building with a groundbreaking ceremony on May 16, 1901, presided over by Mrs. Hearst; a budget of {{USD|215000|1901|round=-4}} had been appropriated, which proved to be inadequate and work stopped after September 1902.<ref name=Woodbridge-ch07>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/johngalenhowardu0000wood/ |title=John Galen Howard and the University of California |author=Woodbridge, Sally Byrne |url-access=registration |date=2002 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, California |isbn=0-520-22992-4 |chapter=7 {{!}} The President's House, California Hall, and the Hearst Memorial Mining Building: 1901–1907 |pages=74–88 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/johngalenhowardu0000wood/page/74/mode/2up}}</ref>{{rp|74}} The building was completed in 1907.<ref name=BD&C/> With the overcrowded campus, it was finished temporarily "into seminar rooms as a measure of relief" to accommodate some of the 2,669 students attending UC.<ref name=UH-history>{{cite report |url=https://archive.org/details/idasproulamelia00sprorich/page/190/mode/2up |title=University House: Its history and residents |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |access-date=2 January 2023 |date=1979}}</ref>

{{quotebox |align=right |width=25em |text=Of course I always have thought the President's House was beautifully proportioned. It had lovely big tall windows and high ceilings which give a sense of space. It was really a pleasure to live in it. You look out your window right through to the [[Golden Gate]] and [[Mount Tamalpais|Mt. Tamalpais]]. Oh, it's like a [[Maxfield Parrish]] [painting] with the beautiful light on it, that blue. It's beautiful. And it's exciting. The people you meet are exciting. You have such a variety of them. And in the President's House you were set up so that you could take care of them. |author=&nbsp;—&nbsp;Ida Amelia Wittschen Sproul, 1960 interview<ref name=IdaSproul60>{{cite interview |url=https://archive.org/details/idasproulamelia00sprorich/page/n245/mode/2up |title=Ida Amelia Sproul: Duty, Devotion, and Delight in the President's House, University of California |subject=Ida Wittschen Sproul |interviewer=Edna Tartaul Daniel |date=January 1960 |publisher=Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>{{rp|26–27}}}}
President [[Benjamin Ide Wheeler]] moved there with his wife Amey (nee Webb) and their son, Benjamin Webb, just before Charter Day (March 23)<ref>{{cite book |url=https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb4v19n9zb |title=The Centennial Record of the University of California, 1868–1968 |editor=Stadtman, Verne A. |date=1968 |chapter=Charter Day |chapter-url=https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb4v19n9zb;&chunk.id=div00277 |access-date=2 January 2023}}</ref> 1911, inaugurating its use as the official residence. According to Ida Sproul, the Wheelers lived at 1820 Scenic because they could not afford to furnish the house. After moving in, one of the east-facing rooms was furnished by the [[Regents of the University of California]] as a guest bedroom.<ref name=IdaSproul80>{{cite interview |url=https://archive.org/details/idasproulamelia00sprorich/ |title=Ida Amelia Sproul: The President's Wife |subject=Ida Amelia Sproul |interviewer=Suzanne B. Riess |date=1980–1981 |publisher=Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>{{rp|11}} Amey Wheeler had a garden installed on the grounds to provide cut flowers for the House.<ref name=IdaSproul60/>{{rp|29}}

Under Ida Sproul, married to [[Robert Gordon Sproul]] (UC President, 1930–58), the stove was converted from coal to gas, and stainless steel sinks were installed to accommodate the dishes, washed by hand, generated by the crowds measured in "hundreds and hundreds" she would entertain for tea.<ref name=IdaSproul60/>{{rp|27}} The size of the parties kept growing, and to accommodate them, Ida Sproul initially rented, then purchased porcelain dishes; she never served a buffet meal during her leadership of President's House.<ref name=IdaSproul60/>{{rp|27}} When [[Chiura Obata]], professor of art at Berkeley, and his family were [[Internment of Japanese Americans|interned during World War II]], Ida Sproul offered the attic space at President's House to store their art and furniture; Obata's wife Haruko (an ''[[ikebana]]'' artist and teacher) had arranged flowers for the Sprouls once, which Ida recalled as "the nicest little flower arrangement ... not elaborate and not gaudy, but a little bit of color and maybe a pretty red leaf or something. She was just very good."<ref name=IdaSproul80/>{{rp|100}}

===From president to chancellor===
[[File:University House, Berkeley south side 2009-11-07.JPG|thumb|left|Front entrance with long staircase (2009)]]
Berkeley Chancellor [[Clark Kerr]] was named the President of the University of California in 1958 to succeed Sproul; instead of moving into President's House in accordance with tradition, the ex-professor preferred to remain in his private home in [[El Cerrito, California|El Cerrito]], and had the on-campus mansion remodeled to accommodate official events instead; it was renamed to University House.<ref>{{cite interview |url=http://texts.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt2p30025k |title=University History Series: Philosopher, Professor, and Berkeley Chancellor, 1961-1965: Edward W. Strong |subject1=Edward W. Strong |subject2=Gertrude Strong |interviewer=Harriet Nathan |date=1988 |chapter=University House |chapter-url=http://texts.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt2p30025k;NAAN=13030&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=d0e10126&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e9838 |quote=Gertrude Strong: By the time Ed became Chancellor, University House had been set up by the Kerrs as a sort of a Blair House for entertaining and for keeping guests overnight. That suited us very well, because we had this house to live in. We didn't ever consider moving, but I thoroughly enjoyed using the house there. ... The Kerrs and the Strongs shared the house. Of course, it being on our campus, we were mostly responsible for things. But any time the Kerrs wanted to use it, why, it was available for them. The program was pretty well set up, because Clark Kerr had been Chancellor on the campus, and a regular calendar of things that they did for the students was established.}}</ref> The first chancellor to live there was [[Roger W. Heyns]], who moved into University House in 1965, followed by [[Albert H. Bowker]] in 1971.<ref name=UH-history/>

University House was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Alameda County, California|National Register of Historic Places]] on March 25, 1982 as part of a larger listing of contemporaneous structures on the Berkeley central campus defining its "formal, turn-of-the-century concept".<ref name=NRIS>{{NRISref|2013a|dateform=mdy|accessdate=December 30, 2022|refnum=82004652|name=University House}}</ref>

{{UC Berkeley campus map |side=right}}
[[Rosebud Denovo]] was shot and killed by an [[Oakland Police Department]] officer after breaking into University House in the early morning of August 25, 1992. She was protesting the construction of sand volleyball courts at [[People's Park (Berkeley)|People's Park]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/26/us/police-kill-protester-at-berkeley-in-break-in-at-chancellor-s-home.html |title=Police Kill Protester at Berkeley In Break-In at Chancellor's Home |author=Gross, Jane |date=August 26, 1992 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>

[[File:University House, Berkeley.jpg|thumb|left|University House and fence (2023)]]
In 2009, protestors threw flower pots and a lit torch at the mansion,<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://newsarchive.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/12/12_uhouse.shtml |title=Protesters attack Berkeley chancellor's home |date=12 December 2009 |publisher=UC Berkeley News |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref> prompting round-the-clock police protection;<ref name=DC-20150831/> eight were arrested, including two students.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/education/13berkeley.html |title=8 Arrested in Protest at Berkeley Chancellor's Home |agency=AP |date=December 12, 2009 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref> No charges were filed.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-dec-21-la-me-berkeley-protest22-2009dec22-story.html |title=No charges in vandalism of UC Berkeley chancellor's home |author=Gordon, Larry |date=December 21, 2009 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref> A security fence was added in 2015 to exclude unauthorized people and police presence was planned to be decreased, but the fenceline also would close a popular route used by students to reach their classes;<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/uc-berkeley-cal-chancellor-nicholas-dirks-security-fence/ |title=UC Berkeley Students Criticize New Security Fence Around Chancellor's Home |date=August 20, 2015 |work=CBS News Bay Area |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref> the fence was relocated closer to University House to avoid this.<ref name=DC-20150831>{{cite news |url=https://www.dailycal.org/2015/08/31/planned-fence-around-chancellors-residence-moved-closer-to-property |title=Planned fence around chancellor's residence moved closer to property |last=Edevane |first=Gillian |date=August 31, 2015 |newspaper=The Daily Californian |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref> Protesters hopped over the incomplete fence that fall and demonstrated on the steps for workers' rights.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dailycal.org/2015/11/08/uc-students-rallying-for-worker-rights-march-to-dirks-residence-hop-gate |title=UC students rallying for worker rights march to Dirks' residence, hop gate |last=Platten |first=Andrea |date=November 8, 2015 |newspaper=The Daily Californian |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref> Records showed the completed security fence cost nearly US$700,000, 2{{frac|2}} times the original planned budget.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dailycal.org/2016/05/26/fence-around-chancellors-residence-completed-2-5-times-original-budget |title=Fence around chancellor's residence completed at 2&nbsp;1/2 times original budget |last=Doumar |first=Karim |date=May 26, 2016 |newspaper=The Daily Californian |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref> When [[Carol T. Christ]] became chancellor in 2017, she chose to live in her private home near campus instead of University House.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/New-Cal-chancellor-shuns-campus-pricey-mansion-11274196.php |title=New Cal chancellor shuns campus' pricey mansion |author1=Matier, Phil |author2=Ross, Andrew |date=July 10, 2017 |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>

== Residents ==
;As "President's House" for the [[President of the University of California]]:
* 1911–1919: [[Benjamin Ide Wheeler]]
* 1919–1923: [[David Prescott Barrows]]
* 1923–1930: [[William Wallace Campbell]]
* 1930–1958: [[Robert Gordon Sproul]]

;As "University House" for the [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] of the [[University of California, Berkeley]]:
* 1965–1971: [[Roger W. Heyns]]
* 1971–1980: [[Albert H. Bowker]]
* 1980–1990: [[Ira Michael Heyman]]
* 1990–1997: [[Chang-Lin Tien]]
* 1997–2004: [[Robert M. Berdahl]]
* 2004–2013: [[Robert J. Birgeneau]]
* 2013–2017: [[Nicholas B. Dirks]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat-inline}}

{{University of California, Berkeley}}
{{University of California presidents}}

[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Berkeley, California]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley buildings]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1911]]
[[Category:Houses in Alameda County, California]]
[[Category:University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in California]]
[[Category:Official residences in California]]
[[Category:Berkeley landmarks in Berkeley, California]]