James Dwight Dana House

Perched upon the “Triangle Lot” formed by Hillhouse Avenue, Trumbull St., and the old Farmington Canal, the James Dwight Dana House has stood as one of New Haven’s finest Italianate villas since its 1849 design by Henry Austin, among the foremost American architects of the mid-19^th-century. From the street, passerby see a composition of conjoined rectangular blocks painted with a coral stucco capped with low-hipped roofs and overhanging eaves. A wooden porch projects from the frontal façade, supported by columns adorned with Hindu-inspired ornament.

Though now repurposed for academic and administrative use by Yale, the building once housed one of the university’s greatest scientific luminaries, Professor of Natural History and Geology James Dwight Dana. The house was passed down by the Dana family for generations. Despite the addition of wings, exterior rehab, and interior reconfigurations, the Dana House retains much of its historic character, reflecting a moment in New Haven’s architectural development when villa forms, particularly those built for academic patrons, were enriched with eclectic and often “exotic” motifs. In 1965, the James Dwight Dana house was designated a National Historic Landmark, a few years after its purchase by Yale University for academic and administrative use.