Boyd House (University of Oklahoma)

Boyd House, also known as the President's House and the OU White House, is the official residence of the president of the University of Oklahoma. The university's president, currently Joseph Harroz Jr., lives in Boyd House as a primary residence free of charge. In 1976, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as "President's House, University of Oklahoma".^[3]

President's House, University of Oklahoma
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Boyd House as viewed from Boyd Street
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Location	407 W. Boyd Street, Norman, Oklahoma
Coordinates	35°12′42″N 97°26′46″W
Built	1906
Architect	David Ross Boyd
Architectural style	Classical Revival
NRHP reference No.	76001558[1][2]
Added to NRHP	July 6, 1976

History

The house that came to be known as Boyd House was built in 1906 by OU's first president, David Ross Boyd, for approximately $7,000. In 1908, Boyd was forced out as university president.^[4] He leased the property to the university until 1914, when OU acquired it from Boyd in a property swap.^[5][6] Seven subsequent university presidents lived in the house. Stratton D. Brooks, the university's third president, remodeled the house over a period of seven years between 1915, and 1922 into its current Neoclassical Revival style, paying for its four Ionic columns out of his own pocket.^[4]

The house had no formal name; it was known as "The President's House", "The White House", or by the name of the occupant, i.e. "The Bizzell House".^[5] It hosted numerous significant historical figures, including Sir Alexander Fleming, John Philip Sousa, William Howard Taft, Harry S. Truman, and Niels Bohr.^[4]

In 1969 J. Herbert Hollomon, the university's eighth president, moved into a newer residence off campus that was purchased by the university for his use, and his successors continued to live in the same house. The old building sat vacant until 1971, when it became office space. It was used as the university's visitor center from 1979 to 1994. It was officially named Boyd House in 1982.^[5]

As a condition of his employment by the university, then-incoming OU president David L. Boren insisted on living in Boyd House.^[6] Boyd House reopened as the official presidential residence in November 1996 following a $2 million privately funded renovation and expansion.^[7]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. "Oklahoma Historical Society State Historic Preservation Office".
3. Brown, Loren N. & Ruth, Kent (July 6, 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: President's House, University of Oklahoma" (PDF). National Park Service. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) "Accompanying two photos, from 1976" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places Inventory.
4. Burr, Carol J. (Fall 1994). "Back to Boyd House" (PDF). Sooner Magazine. 15 (1). University of Oklahoma Foundation: 3–7. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
5. Burr, Carol (Winter 1983). "Sooner Topics: Old Aliases Remembered As Presidential Home Named Boyd House Again" (PDF). Sooner Magazine. 3 (2). University of Oklahoma Foundation. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
6. Burr, Carol J. "Welcome to Boyd House". Sooner Magazine. University of Oklahoma Foundation. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
7. Burr, Carol J. (Summer 1998). "A Visit to Boyd House" (PDF). Sooner Magazine. 18 (4). University of Oklahoma Foundation: 13–18. Retrieved May 16, 2016.

External links

• Boyd House - Norman Convention and Visitors Bureau