Boston University Castle restoration: Photos

The restoration of Boston University’s Castle building at Bay State Road near Storrow Drive wrapped in September 2018; and Finegold Alexander Architects, the architect of record on the project that spiffed up the Tudor revival landmark dating from 1915, has new photos of the finished product.

The restoration included cleaning the building’s exterior to reveal its original sandstone more sharply; and its original wood windows were removed, restored, painted, weather-stripped, and reinstalled. The work also involved re-slating the roof.

Photos via Raj Das Commercial + Fine Art Photography

Photos via Raj Das Commercial + Fine Art Photography

The interior restoration included connecting the Castle to the adjacent Leventhal Center to provide handicapped accessibility to the building for the first time. And the work expanded the Castle’s Fuller’s Pub, including through a 1,000-square-foot commercial kitchen that involved a rear addition—that, in turn, provided the underside of a new terrace.

Photo via Jane Messinger Photography

Photo via Jane Messinger Photography

BU funded the work through alumni donations. The Castle houses the Dahod Family Alumni Center, a hub for exactly what it sounds like.

The building began life as a private home for Boston businessman, poet, and playwright William Lindsey Jr. A later owner donated it to the university, which used it until 1967 to house BU’s presidents.

“This historic project enables the sustainable transformation of one of the university’s richest heritage buildings into a vital Alumni Center for daily use and activity,” Rebecca Berry, Finegold Alexander Architects’ president, said in a release dated March 24. “The Castle, now fully restored, will continue to be an iconic, high profile destination, putting alumni literally and figuratively at the heart of the Charles River campus.”