University Preservation: Scripps College

Scripps was created with a unified historic campus plan influenced by Mission Revival architecture, popular in California at the time of the college's founding in 1926. The campus plan was the result of collaboration between architect Gordon Kaufmann and landscape architect Edward Huntsman-Trout, in consultation with the college's benefactor, Ellen Browning Scripps. The resulting design of the buildings and grounds has provided a distinctive look for this small residential women's college, which is listed as an historic district in the National Register of Historic Places. Funding will support a campus stewardship master plan for its historic buildings and landscapes, which will guide the college in its future preservation efforts.

Scripps’ campus has a unified design influenced by Mission Revival architecture, popular in California at the time of the college's founding in 1926. The campus plan resulted from collaboration between architect Gordon Kaufmann and landscape architect Edward Huntsman-Trout, in consultation with the college's benefactor, Ellen Browning Scripps, and its co-creator and first president, Ernest J. Jaqua. Huntsman-Tout also influenced the selection of vegetation and its placement, for aesthetic reasons, close to buildings. Other designers include architects John Carl Warnecke as well as Criley and McDowell, and landscape architect Thomas Church. The campus as a whole, buildings and grounds, forms a distinctive cultural landscape (i.e., a landscape notable for the history occurring there).

Historical Significance


Located south of the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, Scripps College was established in 1926. Today the campus is bounded by Dartmouth Avenue on the west, Twelfth Street on the north, Mills Avenue on them east, Ninth Street on the south between Mills and Columbia Avenues, and Tenth Street on the south between Columbia and Dartmouth Avenues. The central, historic area of the campus is located east of Columbia Avenue between Ninth and Twelfth Streets. The San Gabriel Mountains provide a dramatic background for the campus and the 10,080-foot peak of Mount San Antonio, or "Mount Baldy," is visible to the northeast of campus (Figure 1). Scripps College is historically significant for its unique campus design, its association with newspaper publisher and philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, and its connection to the history of women's education in Southern California and women's colleges in the United States.

Kaufmann and Huntsman-Trout's design for Scripps adapted conventional ideas about the design of collegiate residence halls, the arrangement of buildings and open spaces, and uses of Mediterranean and English garden styles to California. In addition, the campus today includes an impressive collection of many different species of historic specimen trees. The landscaped pathways, courtyards, and open spaces of the campus are a treasured feature and living reminder of the history of Scripps College. Inspired by the Oxford campus plan, featuring small affiliated colleges clustered together, Scripps College was developed as the first new undergraduate institution of The Claremont Colleges system. The central, historic part of the campus was developed between 1927 and 1939. Scripps College has been recognized for more than seventy-five years as an outstanding liberal arts college for women.

Issue


Planning Process Used:
 * Engaged specialists to supplement expertise on the university’s Blueprint Committee
 * Researched campus design and history, particularly with primary sources
 * Extrapolated a Statement of Historic Principles articulating the philosophy behind the campus design
 * Analyzed National Park Service and cultural landscape* materials to determine criteria for significance and integrity, recommended treatments, and landscape typology [“Integrity as a Value in Cultural Landscape Preservation,” in Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America (Alanen and Melnick, eds., 2000).
 * Identified and assessed the condition of significant structures and areas
 * Surveyed structural and landscape areas adjacent to the historic district—East Campus and West Campus
 * Issued university recommendations for treating structures, materials, and landscapes with a focus on rehabilitation, adaptive reuse, and occasional reconstruction

Goals

 * Codify in a "Statement of Historic Principles" the precepts that guided Kaufmann and Huntsman-Trout in designing the building and grounds in order to acquire a full understanding of their goals, priorities, values, and concerns. Document and assess the development of the buildings and grounds in the historic district since the original campus plan was completed, establishing a chronology that records additions and changes to the physical environment at the College over the last seventy-five years.
 * Document the existing landscape and structures.
 * Document and assess the buildings and grounds that comprise the campus outside the historic district.
 * Working with appropriate documents and site observations, develop a hierarchy of the significant historic buildings, courtyards, and landscape elements of the campus based on the historic integrity/authenticity of those features.
 * Make recommendations concerning the short and long-term preservation, restoration, and maintenance of elements of the historic district, including recommendations to reverse or otherwise treat alterations to historic elements contained within that district.
 * Make recommendations concerning the short and long-term maintenance and development of the areas outside the boundaries of the original campus, including recommendations to differentiate but align these elements with the historic district of the campus.
 * After reviewing existing policies and standards and completing a thorough assessment of the College's landscape and structures, make recommendations regarding the on-going evolution of the existing physical environment (both within and outside the historic district) including but not limited to the recommendations noted above and needs related to security and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
 * Prepare a Landscape and Architectural Blueprint, a document based on the National Park Service's Cultural Landscape format, which will incorporate the above history, observations, analyses, and recommendations.

Treatment recommendation

 * 1) Consult the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation as guidelines for maintenance, repair, development, and redevelopment within the National Register of Historic Places district.
 * 2) Use the Scripps College Statement of Historic Principles, as guidelines for new development. Provide copies of the Statement to architects and landscape architects in the pre-development phase on all future projects.
 * 3) Continue and support current program of building rehabilitation, maintenance, and repair within the central campus (historic district). Review current manuals for conformance to preservation goals; consolidate guidelines and practices, as necessary.
 * 4) Rehabilitate the historic open spaces of the central campus landscape. Jaqua Quadrangle and the Bowling Green are essential elements of the campus design by Gordon Kaufmann and Edward HuntsmanTrout. Remove incompatible additions to the historic landscape such as the rock feature and reconstruct Oak Tree Terrace.  Develop a plan for compatible refurnishing of outdoor spaces in the central campus (historic district).
 * 5) Integrate historic research into campus tours and other "interpretation" activities. Develop an interpretation program on Edward Huntsman-Trout and Gordon Kaufmann.
 * 6) Reconstruct Edwards Court to be compatible with the contributing landscapes and buildings of the central campus (historic district).
 * 7) Unify the appearance of the campus by linking the central historic area with the east and west campuses through principles of landscape design and choice of plant materials. Construct the Recreational Athletic Building at the east terminus of the EastWest Allée. Site new buildings at the street edge, where possible.  Develop a linear path system and pedestrian scale.  Develop urban design guidelines to promote alignment and to improve campus edges and entrances.  Review new projects for consistency and compatibility of materials, lighting standards, benches, and other aspects of historic landscape design.
 * 8) Re-design the service drives such as Amherst Avenue and parking areas to be more compatible with the historic district.
 * 9) Maintain an institution-wide focus on the maintenance and stewardship of the historic landscape and bring the necessary resources to ensure implementation of this policy.
 * 10) Adopt a policy to re-plant significant trees, hedges, and plantings when removed or missing. Protect historic trees and vegetation during construction or repair projects. Remove California Pepper trees on East-West Allée and replace with a tree of appropriate verticality.
 * 11) Review placement of artworks around campus fortheir impact on historic features and spaces.
 * 12) The front lawn and rear garden of Revelle House are important landscapes. As the site is developed, plan the construction around the east garden and the front lawn.  Maintain the axial design as it relates to Elm Tree Lawn.
 * 13) Prepare a Cultural Landscape Report for each of the contributing landscapes in the historic district to guide and inform the future rehabilitation and maintenance.
 * 14) Evaluate the impact on the landscape environment and the additional maintenance costs of overuse of the campus during summer events and consider measures that would compensate the College for the additional costs created by such overuse. Reconsider policies and procedures on facilities rentals that are unrelated to the mission of the College.
 * 15) Review the Master Plan in light of the recommendations of the Landscape and Architectural Blueprint.