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Major renovations to Wadsworth House — the second-oldest surviving building at Harvard, which still houses University offices — were completed this fall, marking a new chapter for the nearly 300-year-old structure.
The colonial-style house on Massachusetts Avenue, painted a signature yellow color, is the only wooden structure still standing in Harvard Yard. Built in 1726 as a residence for University President Benjamin Wadsworth, Class of 1690, the house has served a range of purposes over the centuries, including briefly hosting George Washington’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War. It is currently home to the Office of the University Marshal, which oversees official University ceremonies and events.
The most recent renovation began in the summer of 2024 as a project to repair sagging floors and upgrade the HVAC system, but it soon expanded to include nearly every part of the building — from its colonial-era foundation to its 18th-century walls and ceilings. The renovations included fixing the building’s tilted floors.
“We used to joke that if you sat on one side of the House you could roll to the other side,” Miguel Escuer Velasquez, project manager with Harvard University Housing and Real Estate, told the Harvard Gazette in an interview.
According to the Gazette, a University-run publication, the project ultimately included new lighting, electrical, plumbing, and fire-protection systems, as well as improved insulation and climate control. The changes also aimed to bring the building in line with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
“Within such an old building, making it ADA-compliant was a very tricky process,” Escuer Velasquez told the Gazette. “But Wadsworth now has wider doorways, a wheelchair lift, and an accessible kitchenette and bathroom, making it a far more usable space.”
The renovation also uncovered several surprises hidden beneath centuries of expansion and repairs — including an abandoned water well, hidden windows, and three roofs that were covered up by additional construction, according to Escuer Velasquez in the Gazette.
W. Oliver Radford, a principal at Perry & Radford Architects, which designed the renovation, said the firm faced the dual challenge of preserving a 300-year-old structure while updating it for modern use.
“Working with a 300-year-old building meant dealing with surprises, concealed conditions, and some structural issues that needed to be addressed,” Radford said. “We also had to bring it up to modern standards of accessibility and ADA compliance while installing new mechanical and fire-alarm systems.”
While taking the building apart revealed some unexpected conditions, Radford said nothing particularly unusual turned up.
“When you open up walls, there’s always something surprising, but nothing particularly interesting,” he said. “But seeing the 300-year-old structure itself was interesting to me as an architect.”
Radford added that Perry & Radford were hired by Harvard in January 2023, with construction beginning in summer 2024 and finishing in October 2025.
—Staff writer Bianca G. Ciubancan can be reached at bianca.ciubancan@thecrimson.com.
