Moravian Preservation Master Plan.indb - Society for College and ...

Moravian College • Preservation Master Plan
The Widows’ House has an unusually high degree
of historical integrity on its exterior, which should
receive a Preservation treatment.
Maintenance issues at the Widows’ House include
the following:
• The cornices and porches of the annex need
paint.
• The slate roof should be repaired in areas
of broken or missing tiles.
• The steps from the east porch are beginning
to rot and should be repaired.
• The downspout base at the southeast
corner should be replaced and water
should be directed away from the house
and areaways.
• The downspouts at the southwest corner of
the main house should be reconnected to
the downspout at the northwest corner of
the annex.
Clewell Hall – 1867
Historical Development
Clewell Hall was constructed in 1867 in the French
Second Empire style. It was a private residence
for over 70 years. In 1941, it was purchased by
the Moravian Seminary and College for Women
to house college-level students and faculty. It was
named Clewell Hall in honor of the college’s first
president. By 1947, it contained a faculty apartment
on the first floor, plus living rooms for the dormitory.
The second and third floors were student bedrooms
(Hampson 1947:14).
Since the merger of 1954, Clewell Hall has been used
as a men’s dormitory with the important purpose
of housing male students on a campus that had
been all-female previously. In 1967, the house was
updated substantially on the inside and the exterior
was rehabilitated.
Signifi cance
Clewell Hall is a fine example of a French Second
Empire residence, retaining many original
characteristic elements of the style and possessing
high exterior integrity. The National Register
of Historic Places nomination for the Central
Bethlehem Historic District refers to Clewell Hall
as one of a small number of high-style examples
of Second Empire within the Bethlehem Historic
District.
Integrity
The exterior of Clewell Hall retains a high level of
historic integrity. The interior has some historic
fabric remaining, including an Italianate mantel, but
has largely been modernized and institutionalized
for use as a dormitory.
Condition
Summary
Clewell Hall is a three-story French Second Empire
house with a slate-clad mansard roof. It is set on
a slope facing north toward Church Street, and
the basement level is at grade in the back (south).
The house sits abutting the front sidewalk and is
slightly raised. It has a complex, roughly L-shaped
footprint with a short, full-height rear ell on the
west end of the south side, and a longer secondary
kitchen ell at the south end of the first ell, which
includes just the basement and first floor. The main
block of the house has multiple hexagonal bay
Figure 8-158. Clewell Hall, view of north façade from Church
Street (JMA 2008).
Figure 8-159. Clewell Hall, view of rear (south) façade (JMA
2008).
John Milner Associates • October 2009 • Chapter 8 • Historic Buildings • 223