Watts Hall

This wildly exuberant Tudor pastiche in warm red brick with sandstone trim was designed by Charles H. Read, Jr., the son of a prominent local Presbyterian pastor and graduate of the University of Virginia. The influence of Jefferson's Lawn is evident in Read's placement of the institutional buildings: Watts Hall sits at the head of a grassy quadrangle, while faculty and student housing line the greensward. Read left the east end of the lawn open, just as Jefferson had done. (In both places, however, buildings would later enclose these spaces.) However, Read departed from Jefferson in a number of ways. He positioned his faculty homes to look outward from the lawn to face the outside world, symbolic of Read's idea of how ministers should approach their work. He also separated the faculty homes, which face Westwood Avenue, from the student dormitories, such as Richmond Hall, on the other side of the campus.