A Brief History of the College

Forbes College
Princeton Inn, designed by the New York architect Andrew Jackson Thomas and built in 1924-25, served as a gracious, rambling hotel until it was acquired by the University in 1970. The central dining and social facilities of the College are now located on two floors of the original Inn. An addition designed by J. Robert Hillier '59 integrated the existing buildings into a single complex, creating the second undergraduate residential college at Princeton. The architect of Forbes College is Robert Venturi (Princeton A.B. '47, M.F.A. '50, D.F.A. '83), whose buildings have earned international acclaim for their originality and breadth of vision. Mr. Venturi has said that his goal in the renovation of Forbes College was "to restore the building so as to re-create the delightful atmosphere of the old inn, while accommodating the important specific requirements of the new college." During its forty-five years as a private hotel, the Princeton Inn frequently served as a setting for academic conferences and intellectual gatherings of great interest and significance.