Cambridge, MA – Lee Kennedy Company recently completed the full restoration and renovation of the historic Harvard student residence, Claverly Hall, concluding the first phase of the three-phase Adams House Renewal project. Lee Kennedy is also putting the final touches on Apthorp House, a residence built before the American Revolution that is also undergoing a historic renovation.
Claverly Hall was constructed in 1892 and had not seen any significant upgrades since it was first built. The architecture and design firm, Beyer Blinder Belle (BBB), which previously partnered with Lee Kennedy on the renovation of the historic Standish Hall in the Winthrop House on the Harvard campus, was responsible for the renovation-design that preserves Claverly’s history and character, improves its functionality, and provides ADA accessibility for visitors and residents.
Lee Kennedy performed a complete gut renovation of Claverly, strengthening the structure with new footings, structural steel, and resilient wood framing. A new entrance was created, opening into a redesigned lounge that leads to new, multipurpose spaces for student meetings and social interaction.
The company worked closely with the Cambridge Historical Society to ensure compliance with the stringent historic requirements for materials, windows, and paint colors. Claverly is on track to receive LEED Gold certification. Students will return to the dormitory in August.
The full renovation of the Adams House, which once housed future luminaries Franklin D. Roosevelt, William Randolph Hearst, Sr., Henry Kissinger, and former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, is the latest development in Harvard’s House Renewal Initiative, begun in 2012. Adams House is part of the Harvard Houses National Register Historic District and the Harvard Square Conservation District.
Historic preservation renovation work will soon begin on phase two of the project, the adjacent Randolph House.
