4037 Pine once housed U.'s chief exec

Although Yale Provost Judith Rodin will have a lot to do before taking office as the University's next president, one thing she won't have to worry about is finding a new home. Eisenlohr Hall, the president's official residence on Walnut Street, will be ready for Rodin and her 11-year-old son, Alex, when she takes office next summer. The head of the University didn't always have this privilege, though. In 1773, when the provost was the University's highest ranking officer, Provost William Smith threatened to resign unless the University provided him with a house. Smith claimed he was "too old to walk back and forth from my home five or six times a day," according to the Evening Ledger. Despite the threat, the University did not buy a home for Smith or any other provost until 1915. That year, thanks in part to a gift from the Mask & Wig Society, the University made a down payment for 4037 Pine Street, according to a Board of Trustees report. But ironically, the provost at the time refused to inhabit the Victorian-style house, sparking a campus controversy that lasted for years. Then-Provost Edgar Smith refused to move in, citing "controlling personal reasons" which were never publicly recorded. Despite pressure from the Board of Trustees and other prominent alumni, Smith persisted in his refusal to occupy the residence. Finally, according to a Board of Trustees report, Trustees decided to use the home as an office and conference hall. After World War I, the University made extensive renovations to the house, giving it the appearance of a "colonialized" Victorian villa, and adding a large addition to its western wing, according to University records. The first provost to actually live in the house was Josiah Penniman, who moved in in 1925. When the University later reorganized its administration, Penniman became the first president. Following Penniman, President George McClelland occupied the residence for eight years, during which time the residence became known as the official president's house. But starting with President Harold Stassen, who made his residence in Chestnut Hill, no president after McClelland made 4037 Pine his home, mainly because they were not keen on living in West Philadelphia, according to University records. "My impression was that back in the '60s and '70s the Board of Trustees wanted the president over the river [in Center City]," said Dilys Weingrad, the director of the Arthur Ross gallery who wrote a history of the current president's house, Eisenlohr Hall. It was not until 1980 that the University made another attempt to house its president on campus, this time at the request of Sheldon Hackney, who had just been named president. Weingrad said the University chose Eisenlohr – which Josephine Eisenlohr had bequeathed to the University in 1939 – because it was the only centrally located University-owned building that could easily be used as a home. "Lo and behold, they found a nice big house, even with a reception hall," Weingrad said. The old provost's house at 4037 Pine was no longer an option by that time because in 1968, the University had traded it for two houses on Spruce Street. Those houses, which were owned by Henry and Martha Block, were torn down to make way for the parking garage behind 1920 Commons, according to Martha Block, who still owns 4037 Pine. The Blocks took a liking to their new home, she said, despite their coerced removal and the large amount of money they spent on further renovations to the residence. "We love the old house," she said recently. To make matters worse, the University had not taken very good care of the Pine Street house before she and her husband traded for it, she said. Block also mentioned the possibility that the University might once again own the stately residence. "I have heard that Penn would like it back someday," she said. Although the University has no plans to repurchase the house in the near future, Associate Treasurer Chris Mason said the house might be a good place for a faculty residence. "It might not be a bad idea."