Contact
Front Desk: (510) 642-1676
The Resident Directors' offices: Stern main lobby
Stadium Rim Way and Gayley Road
Unit Description
Bowles Hall, the University's first residence hall, is an all first-year male residence hall located against the hills on the northeast side of campus. The Tudor-style building, which resembles a castle, was donated to the University in 1929. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and a City of Berkeley landmark. The rooms are laid out quad-style, with two rooms on either side of a common area.
Unique Features
Location/Neighborhood
For more detailed housing information, please visit the Living at Cal website.
History of Bowles Hall
Bowles Hall was built in honor of Phillip Bowles, a UC Berkeley alumnus and a member of the Board of Regents in 1922. In 1928, a $350,000 grant by his wife Mary McNear Bowles allowed construction of the dormitory to begin. Since its establishment in 1929, Bowles Hall has been the campus's unique all-male dormitory.
As the first University-owned residence hall, Bowles boasts some of the oldest and grandest traditions, including several songs that Bowlesmen are accustomed to singing after football games or while particpating in Stern/Bowles exchanges.
In 1989, Bowles Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#89000195) as a result of student opposition to the original plans for the Foothill housing complex, which called for the demolition of the oldest residence hall. Bowles Hall was designated a City of Berkeley landmark in the late 1980s.