Cushing House
Cushing House (formerly called Cushing Hall) is a four-story dormitory on Vassar College's campus in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. A response to freshmen overcrowding, the college's Board of Trustees hurried the Allen & Collens-designed building, named for college librarian and alumna trustee Florence M. Cushing, to construction and completion in 1927. Cushing was originally designed as eight smaller houses with euthenic principles in mind, but ended up as a single U-shaped dormitory in the Old English manor house style with Jacobean interior furnishings.
| Cushing House | |
|---|---|
Cushing's west wing, with its central hall visible to the right | |
| Former names | Cushing Hall |
| General information | |
| Type | Dormitory |
| Architectural style | Old English manor house |
| Location | Poughkeepsie, New York |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 41.689428°N 73.893118°W |
| Current tenants | Vassar College |
| Completed | 1927 |
| Cost | $400,000 (1927) |
| Owner | Vassar College |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 4 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architecture firm | Allen & Collens |
Students of all grades may live in the house, which houses up to 202 in single, double, and triple rooms. Throughout Cushing's history, various proposals and plans have incited controversy among the building's residents, including designating one of its wings as all-black housing and converting one of its common areas into eight single rooms. Contemporary reviewers have looked favorably upon Cushing's aesthetic qualities, declaring it to be one of Vassar's most beautiful buildings.