Touring numerous college campuses last summer brought surprising design inspiration that still lingers in my mind.
The old colleges are absolutely beautiful.
The gorgeous Gothic architecture of Cornell peaks out from the vast sea of green trees.
We saw beautiful building after beautiful building on each of the college campus we explored. What I really loved though were the less obvious design details.
This gracious serpentine brick wall, seen at UVA, welcomed you onto campus.
Also at UVA was this cute door set into a brick wall with circular holes to peek through to what was on the other side.
This lovely door was spotted driving down a street in Lexington, Virginia. It would look right at home in Florida or the tropics.
This beautiful ceramic Jesus invited one into the Cornell chapel giving just a hint that more treasures awaited inside.
Here is just one view of the intimate yet opulent chapel.
I love the strap work on this door at Yale. That would have been special enough treatment for a single door, but then the letter B was added along with a window, metal kick plate, and assorted clavos.
Everywhere you turn at Yale, is another decorative surprise. This devil was one of my favorites.
Hogwarts-like details are all around.
Being a native Texan, I am, of course, biased towards Rice. I am so proud that such an amazing school exists in my home state. The spectacular campus sits within an enormous canopy of live oak trees right smack in urban Houston.
We saw owls again. Here they represent the Rice mascot.
Numerous gravel areas with bistro chairs and tables lay in wait for students.
Dramatic sculptures nestle into the spacious tree-lined grounds.
The landscaping added much to each campus. There were beautiful flowers at William and Mary. Prospect Garden at Princeton University was in perfect summertime bloom. Simplicity, however, sometimes spoke the loudest. Humble ivy climbing the walls of beautiful old stone buildings was quite picturesque. Clearly it has made a lasting impression as an elite league of schools is named after this simple vine.
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