Charles Henry Farnam House — 1884

History

The Charles H. Farnam House, designed by architect Josiah Cleaveland Cady and completed in 1884, is currently used by the Department of Economics. The Queen Anne style house was originally home to Charles Farnam. In 1898, the residents of the home constructed a north addition designed by architect Leoni Robinson. The University acquired the property in 1920 for use by the Education Department (which no longer exists), renaming the house after Henry Barnard (BA 1830). In 1995, renovation architects Charles Beckman Swanson Associates built an underground tunnel connecting the building with the neighboring 30 Hillhouse (currently home to the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics) and refurbished the basement with the addition of new flooring, walls and ceilings. Today, this subterranean space serves as a multi-purpose common room, named in honor of Nobel Laureate, Professor James Tobin. The renovation project also included the addition of a new courtyard meant to provide natural light into the spaces below-ground.

Did You Know?

Prior to the construction of the Charles Henry Farnam house, the home of Professor Benjamin Silliman (B.A. 1868), stood on the site. That home was dismantled and moved in 1871 and its parts were distributed to several locations in New Haven.