The Willard Phillips House formerly at 58 Linnaean Street was constructed in 1841 in the then fashionable Gothic Revival architectural style. Willard Phillips was born in 1784 in Bridgewater, MA and graduated Harvard University in 1810. After graduating, Phillips studied law and by 1826, was a member of the legislature and during this time, he was an editor of multiple law review journals which were distributed all over the country. By 1839, he was made judge of probate for Suffolk County and built his home shortly after in Cambridge. He retired from legal practice in 1845 to become the president of the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company, where he remained until 1865 when he retired.
After his death, the property remained in the Phillips family who rented the home to Professor John Trowbridge, who was the Director of the Jefferson Physical Laboratory at Harvard. By 1900, 58 Linnaean Street, land which extended from Linnaean Street to Shepard Street and all buildings thereon were conveyed to Radcliffe College, who also purchased the land of Dr. Bemis next door to develop what is known now as the Radcliffe Quad.
1873 Hopkins Map 
1916 Bromley Map 
Current Condition Map
The Phillips House became known as the Trowbridge House, a dormitory for students at Radcliffe while the larger brick dormitories along Shepard Street were being constructed. As the Radcliffe Quad developed into the 1920s, open space became a challenge, and many wood-frame dwellings and outbuildings were demolished or moved. The Phillips House eventually was razed in 1951 for Holmes Hall, a wing of Moors Hall.
The original Gothic style barn as part of the Phillips estate was moved in 1926 to the rear of 61 Garden Street and redesigned by Mary Almy, a Radcliffe Graduate and principal architect of the firm of Howe, Manning & Almy which was started in 1900 by Lois Lilley Howe. Radcliffe hired the firm to convert the former barn structure into a field house for athletics on the Radcliffe Quad.
The Field House was redesigned in the Colonial Revival style and was nearly indistinguishable from the former barn besides the bargeboards at the side gable of the roof which were retained to showcase the history of the structure.
Ca. 1930s view of Radcliffe Field House, courtesy of HOLLIS Images. 
Ca. 1930s view of Radcliffe Field House, courtesy of HOLLIS Images.
Plans and documents which are in the Howe, Manning & Almy Special Collection at the MIT Special Archives showcase the drawings and floor plans of the space even down to the large wooden beam at the mantle on the interior which reads “In Memory of Rosamond Claire Esty 1925”. Ms. Esty, 22, was a recent Radcliffe graduate who was swept from a ledge in Rockport by rogue waves in and despite her brothers attempts to save her, died in the surf.
Photo of Radcliffe Field House proposed front elevation, original at MIT Libraries. 
Photo of Radcliffe Field House proposed first floor plan, original at MIT Libraries. 
Photo of Radcliffe Field House proposed second floor plan, original at MIT Libraries.
The Field House was a success and saw heavy use until the 1960s when the building became known by the College as a “necking hangout”. Radcliffe allowed its female students to study in the Field House with a male companion until midnight by requiring students to sign out a key held at nearby Holmes Hall; this made the Field House the only building at Radcliffe legally available to Radcliffe students and their dates every night. Articles explained that the key was often signed out under assumed names and would go missing and unauthorized duplicates later would proliferate through the Quad.
The Field House was razed by 1970 for the construction of the Currier House.
