A Century on the Hill: Trowbridge Turns 100
By Fran Czuk
In September 1925, when Kalamazoo College’s total enrollment rose to 353 students, 84 female students moved into brand-new dorm rooms in the just-opened Mary Trowbridge Hall.
Designed by renowned architect Albert Kahn, the hall was named for Mary (Day) Trowbridge, a former student at the College, member of a pioneering Baptist family and the wife of Luther H. Trowbridge, class of 1860. Since opening its doors, Trowbridge has been a home away from home for thousands of K students over its 100 years.
In 1925, the building also housed a matron and dean of women and included the College’s main dining room and a hospital (the dean of women had nursing training).
“The plan avoids extravagance and luxury but comprehends those things which are important for providing a comfortable, sanitary, wholesome home for our young women while they are preparing themselves for larger service,” a campaign brochure raising money for the new hall enthused.
Construction cost $121,600, with an additional $9,500 for furnishings and equipment bringing the total project cost to $131,000. When Trowbridge opened in September 1925, students paid $63 rent and $108 board per term.
In addition to room and board, early residents of Trowbridge paid $1.50 annual house dues for magazines, newspapers, flowers, records and informal parties. Radio volume was to be kept low, and after 10:45 p.m., typewriters could be used only in the parlors. The Victrola in the sun parlor, the piano in the parlor and the piano in the lounge could be played only at certain hours, and quiet hours were specified when there was to be no whistling, singing, loud talking or playing of musical instruments. No baths or showers were permitted after 11 p.m.
Rooms were cleaned by the maid once a week and required to be ready for inspection by 10 a.m. every weekday. No food or bottles were to be kept “in conspicuous places on window sills” and lights were to be turned off when a room was unoccupied. Smoking was allowed in the rooms provided the doors were kept closed.
Telephone use was limited to five minutes at a time, with first-year students assigned to answer the hall telephone according to posted schedules. Long-distance calls and telegrams were limited to a pay phone.
All residents agreed to return home by closing hours, which were more stringent for first years, and penalties for lateness included earlier curfew the next weekend, a quarantine weekend night and consideration by the house council. Men were permitted to visit only in the parlors, and only during calling hours, with “girls and their guests expected to conform to social proprieties at all times.” Dancing and card playing were not permitted in the parlors on Sunday, and students were expected to change from school apparel for the evening meal.
In 1939, the College planned an addition to Trowbridge as well as a new dining hall, which would move the main dining hall out of Trowbridge to the south side of the quad. The combined project cost for the addition and new dining hall was estimated at $100,000.
The new wing extended south and east from the south end of the original building, providing accommodations for 40 more female students and framing a new terrace facing Stetson Chapel. The addition includes a plaque with the motto, “The end of learning is gracious living.”
The wing includes a unique feature: As it comprises more stories than the original hall where it connects, but contains no interior stairwell, residents of the wing’s top floor must access their hallway via a flat rooftop walkway, exiting the original building above the dining room and re-entering the south wing. At some point, this roof crossing became known as Pebble Beach, due to the small stones used to protect the roof membrane. (The earliest use of this appellation known to the College appears in the Index in 1981.)
Trowbridge:
Old-World Charm, New-World Challenges
This century-old building has stately charm, but it comes with some modern challenges. Susan Lindemann, associate vice president for Facilities Management, notes that “Trowbridge is a fascinating building from a construction standpoint. It was built using a combination of structural steel, concrete, and brick—a method that was quite advanced for its time. One of the unique challenges we face today is that the original mechanical systems, like drainpipes, were installed before the concrete floors were poured. As a result, the pipes are now encased in concrete, and when one fails, as aging metal pipes eventually do, the only way to access it is by jackhammering through the structure itself.”
Another challenge is that the building’s three-phased construction and location has resulted in multiple level changes throughout the facility. This makes universal accessibility a near-impossibility without major reconstruction.
More broadly, Lindemann points out that “the way we live, study, and work has evolved significantly over the past century. Trowbridge was originally designed as a women’s dormitory, with a high degree of formality and a layout that favored small, private rooms. That kind of compartmentalization doesn’t always suit the way students engage with space today, where more open, flexible layouts are often preferred.”
When Welles Hall opened in 1940, the Trowbridge dining room was refurnished as a lounge. The parlors were also redecorated “with a dormitory scheme of tan and rose blended with soft shades of brown and gold,” according to the September 29, 1939, Index. “The rooms have been repainted, stairways revarnished, and new mattresses purchased to aid in dressing up Trowbridge in the height of fashion…Approximately $2,000 was spent in the rooms, part of which was donated by the Women’s Council, the remainder being made up by the college.”
Prompted again by the need for more housing, work on the west wing of Trowbridge began in 1956, with the addition opening for occupancy in September 1957. According to an Index article on February 27,1957, the addition cost $350,000 and housed approximately 90 women.
The extension featured mostly double rooms with adjoining bathrooms, a more “modern” style. The blueprints also included a trunk storage room and a typing room. A French floor was approved by the administration, with a suite to be occupied by a French Fulbright scholar. Students occupying this section were to speak French at all times.
In the 1990s, Trowbridge housed the Career Development Center, which has since moved to Dewing Hall. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that Trowbridge became a first-year dorm.
Currently, Trowbridge has a capacity of 223 students. It now includes two basement lounges, one with a TV and one with pool and foosball tables.
The 2025–26 housing cost is around $6,400 for the year—just over $2,000 per term for a double or two-room triple, about $2,500 for a single.
Hall rules these days reflect that courtesy hours are in effect at all times, with residents expected not to practice musical instruments or create excessive noise, and quiet hours begin at 11 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday and at 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Guests may visit for up to three nights within a two-week period, and K is now a smoke-free campus.
These brick walls have seen a century of K students come and go. From a 1931 yearbook referring to the hall as “the Pen” (short for penitentiary, due to strict house rules) to the current casual use of “Trow;” from typewriters to laptops and shared phones to smartphones; through war measures, student protests, social upheaval and shifting expectations; with renovation throughout the years to keep up with increasing electrical use and the advent of the Internet, campus life has changed immensely, and Trowbridge has seen it all.
If you lived in Trowbridge, what was student life there like for you? Email your photographs, stories and memories with the College to info@kzoo.edu, and we may consider using them in a future story or publication.
