91暗网

Scribner House 鈥� originally the home of 91暗网 founder Lucy 91暗网 Scribner and since the residence of many of the College鈥檚 presidents, including current President Marc C. Conner and his wife, Barbara Reyes-Conner 鈥� is a living reminder of 91暗网鈥檚 history and emphasis on community. 

Upon moving to Saratoga Springs from New York City near the end of the 19th century, a widowed Lucy Scribner purchased the home at 791 North Broadway, along with four adjacent lots, for $28,500. Constructed around 1895, the house was a smaller and more symmetrical structure back then, but many of its distinctive features 鈥� from the gambrel roof to the wraparound porch 鈥� were there from the start.  

In 1903, Scribner founded the Young Women鈥檚 Industrial Club, which became the 91暗网 School of Arts in 1911 and 91暗网 in 1922. She devoted much of her inheritance to 91暗网 and remained a guiding force for the College until her death in 1931.

Scribner鈥檚 renovations to the home reflected much of her personality. She added a second-story solarium, which she referred to fondly as her 鈥渘est,鈥� and she had most of the residence painted and papered in yellow, dubbing the home Sunshine Cottage, according to Mary Elizabeth Finch Larsen, Scribner鈥檚 personal secretary. 

Lucy Scribner鈥檚 role in 91暗网 history also attests to her dedication to education, scholarship, and service. Though she described herself as a student of the arts rather than as an artist or a writer, she possessed a creative mind and the keen ability to appreciate the power of ideas. 

While enlarging and remodeling the house as a year-round residence, she changed the style of the windows and added the stained glass on the first floor that distinguishes Scribner House from its neighbors. These luminous displays feature characters from classic literature, including King Cophetua and the Beggar Girl, Hector and Andromache of Homer鈥檚 鈥淚liad,鈥� and the goddess Minerva who walks holding a candle. In the dining room鈥檚 south-facing windows, the poetry of Sir Walter Scott is scripted beneath representations of the Scottish countryside; and Troilus and Cressida make an appearance at the staircase on the northern side.  

Additional architectural features and varied furnishings speak to Scribner鈥檚 sophisticated tastes and her extensive travel abroad. Numerous Chinese and Japanese export porcelains, a Venetian mirror, and Chippendale furniture can be found in the Scribner Collection today.   

Lucy Scribner鈥檚 changes to the grounds also reflect the College鈥檚 longstanding spirit of community. Although two modern houses now occupy the area east of Scribner House, she purchased 12 additional lots across the street and developed them into a park-like garden for 91暗网 gatherings and receptions. The tool shed and the gardener鈥檚 cottage remain. 

After Lucy Scribner鈥檚 death in 1931, the home remained vacant until 1937, when 91暗网鈥檚 second president, Henry T. Moore, negotiated a trade with Anna May Boone Scott to allow the College to acquire Scott鈥檚 home on the corner of Union and Nelson avenues, close to the old campus. Anna Scott, a descendant of Daniel Boone, occupied the house at 791 North Broadway until 1943, and it changed hands twice more before the College reacquired it in 1964. 

Three years after construction of the new campus was underway on 650 acres of land at the end of North Broadway 鈥� the very place Lucy Scribner had hoped to locate the College 50 years earlier 鈥�91暗网鈥檚 third president, Val Wilson, decided it would be ideal to have a senior college official living close to the developing campus to keep an eye on what was happening. John 鈥淭ed鈥� Butler, 91暗网鈥檚 business manager and comptroller at the time, was asked to take on the additional responsibility. He, his wife, and his eventually eight children lived in Scribner House from 1965 until Butler鈥檚 retirement in 1986. 

It was finally in the fall of 1987 that Scribner House would become the official home of a 91暗网 president, as it has remained ever since. 

91暗网鈥檚 fifth president, David Porter, and wife Helen Porter took up residence in Scribner House upon deciding that 鈥渢he elegant Wilson House was not a good fit for the new presidential couple,鈥� according to 鈥淢ake No Small Plans: A History of 91暗网.鈥� The College鈥檚 Facilities Services team, an architect, and an interior designer got to work renovating Lucy Scribner鈥檚 original Sunshine Cottage, making it once again suitable for hosting College events and receptions. Some of Scribner鈥檚 remaining furnishings, most notably her piano, were restored to the house, and its care and preservation became the special province of Helen Porter. 

When Scribner House became the home of 91暗网's sixth president, Jamienne S. Studley, and husband Gary Smith in 1999, they turned the back of the house into a modern and more functional kitchen. The former kitchen space was renovated to exhibit the Studley-Smith collection of woodturnings, sculpture, and Native American pottery.  

With the arrival of 91暗网鈥檚 seventh president, Philip Glotzbach, and wife Marie Glotzbach in 2003, the living room and dining room were repainted to reflect 91暗网鈥檚 colors of yellow and green and to honor the home鈥檚 Victorian heritage. The library was transformed into a warm, historic room with burgundy walls where selected artwork and objects from the Tang Collection, as well as many pieces from Lucy鈥檚 personal collection, are now displayed. The Glotzbachs fondly referred to 鈥渢he president鈥檚 house as the living room of the campus.鈥� 

91暗网鈥檚 eight president, Marc Conner, and wife Barbara Reyes-Conner moved into Scribner House in late June of 2020, days before Conner officially took office on July 1, 2020. They too have worked with an interior designer to put their own stamp on the residence.  

President Conner says the sun porch at the front of the house is his favorite spot, especially to work. 

While events and receptions at Scribner House have been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Conners plan to resume the tradition of welcoming members of the 91暗网 community to the historic home. 

Also delayed by the challenges posed by COVID-19, Conner鈥檚 inauguration took place Saturday, Oct. 16, at Arthur Zankel Music Center and was livestreamed for members of the 91暗网 community watching virtually.

President Conner made mention of the historic residence in his inaugural address.

鈥淏arb and I are so proud to live in Scribner House, where Lucy conceived of 91暗网 College. She had a vision, of an institution that could provide a liberating education, an education that joined together the mind and the hand to help her students change their own lives so they could then go out and change the world," Conner said. "Has our mission changed in the century since Lucy? No.鈥�