President’s House

James Hillhouse was a wealthy and well-educated man highly involved in the politics and development of New Haven in the late 18th century. As part of his vision to transform New Haven into one of the most beautiful cities in the country, he spearheaded many projects including the renovation of the New Haven Green, creation of the Grove Street Cemetary, and the addition of elm trees that led to New Haven’s nickname as “the Elm City.” In 1792, James Hillhouse first laid out plans for Hillhouse Avenue between Grove Street and ending at Sachem’s Grove with broad grass verges and rows of elm trees, a model later replicated in suburbs across the United States. The growth of Hillhouse Avenue faltered during the Embargo of 1807 and War of 1812, but resumed under James Hillhouse’s son James A. Hillhouse, who collaborated extensively with architect Alexander Jackson Davis to design his own mansion Sachem’s Wood and many other properties on Hillhouse Ave.



The vast majority of the buildings on Hillhouse Ave were constructed between 1800 and 1929. As shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, many of the properties on Hillhouse Ave around 1888 and 1911 already belonged to professors or administrators at Yale, a shift that would continue in the subsequent decades, including with the transfer of ownership of 43 Hillhouse Ave to Yale after Henry Farnam’s death.



As a result of changing university priorities, specifically an increase in support for engineering and computer science, Hillhouse Avenue is evolving once again. A series of projects planned for the next decade aims to revamp the lower Hillhouse Avenue area (below Trumbull Street) to construct a new quad and set of buildings for the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Soon, lower Hillhouse Avenue will have a new look—one of modernity and forward-looking innovation, an appearance rather distinct from the upper-class residential district first imagined by James Hillhouse. At the same time, many of the mansions on upper Hillhouse Avenue have been converted to graduate schools and academic buildings. Still, the appearance of upper Hillhouse Avenue remains as a token and a reminder of an earlier time in New Haven, when Hillhouse was known as one of the finest suburbs in the United States.

1871 - 1883 Henry Farnam, Ann Sophia Whitman Farnam

1883 - 1933 Henry Walcott Farnam

1937 - 1951 Charles Seymour

1951 - 1963 Alfred Whitney Griswold

1963 - 1977 Kingman Brewster, Jr.

1977 - 1978 Hanna Holborn Gray

1978 - 1986 Angelo Bartlett Giamatti

2014 - Present Peter Salovey, Marta Moret

The land that now belongs to 43 Hillhouse Ave was once part of the traditional Indigenous lands of the Mohegan, Mohican, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Niantic, Quinnipiac, and other Algonquian speaking peoples. We pay respect to their peoples of past and present.

Before Henry Farnam commissioned architect Russell Sturgis Jr. to construct the Henry Farnam House on 43 Hillhouse Ave in 1871, Hillhouse Avenue was part of New Haven’s growing suburb, expanding out of Grove Street on the North side of New Haven’s original 9-square grid.

Henry Farnam owned the house from 1871 to his death in 1883, upon which Yale Daily News reported that he gifted the property to Yale under the condition his son Henry W. Farnam could live there until his death. Interestingly, according to the Atlas of New Haven in 1911 (Fig. 7), the property belonged to Henry Farnam’s wife, “A. S. Farnam,” which stands for Ann Sophia Farnam. However, Mrs. Farnam passed away in 1904, and no other direct family member of Henry Farnam shares those initials, leading to the presumption that this was a mapmaking error or information collected prior to her death.

In 1933, the property ownership was transferred to Yale University, who has owned 43 Hillhouse ever since, maintaining it as the President’s House.

The President’s House likely played a prominent role in the social history of New Haven. From looking at the Sanborn maps, 43 Hillhouse is one of, if not the largest property on upper Hillhouse Ave. Given that the majority of the tenants were university professors or upper-class New Haven businesspeople, it can be hypothesized that 43 Hillhouse served as a gathering place for many influential people. Moreover, as the house of the President of Yale University, many influential visitors and guests have stayed at 43 Hillhouse, including former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair and former President of the United States Bill Clinton.



At the same time, the President’s House has been the site of many key moments where Yale students appeal directly to the president and university leadership for change. On November 6, 1968, a student protest formed in front of 43 Hillhouse to advocate for immediate coeducation at Yale. As part of a Coeducation Week initiative organized by students from Trumbull College, the protest served as a direct appeal to then-President Kingman Brewster to allow women to study at Yale. Often characterized as a “sympethetic listener,” Brewster appreciated the students’ advocacy and had already voted on coeducating Yale by 1970 prior to the protest. Still, the student pressure and advocacy marked a moment where Brewster understood the perspectives of the student body not just at Yale but other colleges along the East Coast, inciting real change.



Overall, as the house of the president, 43 Hillhouse often houses upper-class or elite members of society, while simultaneously appealing to the broader social groups and dynamics of the university and student body.

James Hillhouse was a wealthy and well-educated man highly involved in the politics and development of New Haven in the late 18th century. As part of his vision to transform New Haven into one of the most beautiful cities in the country, he spearheaded many projects including the renovation of the New Haven Green, creation of the Grove Street Cemetary, and the addition of elm trees that led to New Haven’s nickname as “the Elm City.” In 1792, James Hillhouse first laid out plans for Hillhouse Avenue between Grove Street and ending at Sachem’s Grove with broad grass verges and rows of elm trees, a model later replicated in suburbs across the United States. The growth of Hillhouse Avenue faltered during the Embargo of 1807 and War of 1812, but resumed under James Hillhouse’s son James A. Hillhouse, who collaborated extensively with architect Alexander Jackson Davis to design his own mansion Sachem’s Wood and many other properties on Hillhouse Ave.



The vast majority of the buildings on Hillhouse Ave were constructed between 1800 and 1929. As shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, many of the properties on Hillhouse Ave around 1888 and 1911 already belonged to professors or administrators at Yale, a shift that would continue in the subsequent decades, including with the transfer of ownership of 43 Hillhouse Ave to Yale after Henry Farnam’s death.



As a result of changing university priorities, specifically an increase in support for engineering and computer science, Hillhouse Avenue is evolving once again. A series of projects planned for the next decade aims to revamp the lower Hillhouse Avenue area (below Trumbull Street) to construct a new quad and set of buildings for the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Soon, lower Hillhouse Avenue will have a new look—one of modernity and forward-looking innovation, an appearance rather distinct from the upper-class residential district first imagined by James Hillhouse. At the same time, many of the mansions on upper Hillhouse Avenue have been converted to graduate schools and academic buildings. Still, the appearance of upper Hillhouse Avenue remains as a token and a reminder of an earlier time in New Haven, when Hillhouse was known as one of the finest suburbs in the United States.