In 1928, Mary McNear Bowles provided a $350,000 grant to build Bowles Hall in memory of her husband, Phillip E. Bowles, a Berkeley alumnus and University of California Regent. Designed by George W. Kelham, the building was the first residence hall on campus and served as California's first state-owned residence hall. It was dedicated in 1929, and while it maintained a male-only tradition for much of its history, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1989 for its Collegiate Gothic architecture.
The building features a pale stone exterior, a five-arch entry arcade, and a crenelated tower. It also houses the Julien and Helen Hart Memorial Library, which was added in 1939 as a gift from James D. Hart, his wife Ellen, and her husband Joseph Bransten. The hall sits on top of the Hayward Fault and was designated a City of Berkeley landmark on October 17, 1988.
Following a period of planning by alumni and the Bowles Hall Foundation, the hall underwent a 14-month restoration in a public-private partnership. It reopened in August 2016, welcoming female students for the first time. The restored college serves 188 undergraduate students, three live-in faculty members, and several graduate residents, earning LEED Silver certification in August 2017.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
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