About this property
The Harvard Lampoon Building (sometimes referred to as the Lampoon Castle) is a historic building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is best known as the home of The Harvard Lampoon, and for its unusual design. The building was constructed at 44 Bow Street not far from Harvard Yard and close to the "Gold Coast" of residences for undergraduates of Harvard College before the creation of Harvard's "house system" (some of them now part of Adams House). Designed by Edmund M. Wheelwright, who also oversaw the construction, it was first opened on February 19, 1909. Wheelwright had attended Harvard University and was one of the founders of the Harvard Lampoon. Wheelwright's design was inspired in part by an old church in Jamestown, Virginia, and by the Flemish Renaissance details of Auburn Street buildings in its vicinity. The building has been described as a "Satirical Castle". During the construction phase of the project Wheelwright traveled to Europe to procure appropriate furnishings and windows. He purchased leaded windows in Belgium and an Elizabethan mantelpiece in England. The building also features 17th-century Delft tiles that were imported from the Netherlands. The Delft tiles are blue, white, and aubergine. The tiles were used in a room with an open ceiling and plain furniture and timbers. The ground floor features a small entrance and a round library used for editorial meetings. The floor opens up and there is a secret chamber beneath the library (a "basement") used for "secret" events. The building features a copper ibis, symbol of the Lampoon, mounted on the top of the dome. The statue is roughly 4 feet (1.2 m) high and weighs roughly 70 pounds (32 kg). Though it was first installed in 1909, it has frequently been stolen and returned ever since. On one occasion members of The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper and rival of the Lampoon, which issues an annual Crimson parody issue, stole the statue and presented it as a gift to the Russian delegation to the UN. After initially promising to install it on top of a building at Moscow State University, the delegation returned the statue. The building cost approximately $40,000 to construct, making it then the most expensive headquarters of a college newspaper in the United States. After the building was first constructed, it initially hosted a small store on the ground floor in addition to the Harvard Lampoon offices and meeting spaces on the other floors; for years the site housed a used book shop, Starr Books. In 2023 a major restoration project led to the installation of a second fire escape to the building, numerous structural repairs, and the return of Ludowici tile to the roof decades after its removal in the mid-1950s.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Harvard Lampoon Building
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Questions about this property
When was Harvard Lampoon Building listed on the National Register?
Harvard Lampoon Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 29, 1978.
What type of historic resource is Harvard Lampoon Building?
Harvard Lampoon Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Harvard Lampoon Building?
The period of significance for Harvard Lampoon Building is recorded as the civil_war era, specifically around 1876.
Can I research the history near Harvard Lampoon Building?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Harvard Lampoon Building will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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