This is a fun topic. I will add the Gothic WashU – which I believe, literally has the different dorms compete against each other in competitions, and logos/flags for each dorm (or something like that, hard to recall)… Also Hogwarts’esque are Duke and Cornell (Cornell’s bell tower literally plays the instrumental Harry Potter theme, and there is a library that is supposed to be Hogwarts’esque. If I were 18, and could get in, I’d go just for that.
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Movie Hogwarts is definitely a fantasy hodge-podge. I see some Norman Romanesque, some Gothic, some Gothic Revival, I want to say Scottish Baronial, and a lot of French Renaissance (all those steep conical towers with machicolations and lancet windows) . . . .
Actual shooting locations included Durham Cathedral (Norman Romanesque), Alnwick Castle (a blend of Norman Romanesque, Gothic, and Gothic Revival), Gloucester Cathedral (blend of Norman Romanesque and Gothic), Lacock Abbey (many renovations with Gothic, Renaissance, and Gothic Revival), Christ Church College Oxford (Romanesque and Gothic in the parts used), the Bodelian Libary Oxford (Gothic), and New College Oxford (Perpendicular Gothic, a personal favorite).
I love Richardsonian Romanesque, but it was definitely a distinctly American “revival” style, and I also think of it as more based in continental Romanesque (French, Italian, and Spanish) than Norman/English.
Actually, Cornell’s chimemasters take requests and will play almost anything. The only exception is Happy Birthday.
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I know it’s already been mentioned but Mt Holyoke is the most hogwarts like school we visited. It even has the four competing groups with huge banners in the library (though you are assigned by year not by a sorting hat) and an overgrown greenhouse.
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Difficult to top this themed dinner from Bryn Mawr from 2014:
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Boston College, for sure.
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I am having trouble uploading pictures, but I would add Kenyon College.
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This article considers 31 schools and includes photos:
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That was an interesting article. Some of it was spot on, and others, to me at least, were real head-scratchers.
Like, Dartmouth is one of the LEAST Hogwartsy colleges I have visited. Same with William & Mary (love the campus, but not Hogwartsy to me). I wouldn’t particularly single out Harvard either. The problem in all these cases is Georgian/Georgian Revival architecture is not particularly well-represented in Hogwarts.
And I am not sure I can forgive this line:
the Griffin, which also happens to be Hogwarts’ mascot.
That said, there are some fantastic photos in that article, and nice on point additions to the discussion.
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Points should be taken off for any dining hall with candles strung across its ceiling.
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Just adding some pictures. In support of my original nomination of Yale, Yale went a little crazy with the dining halls–there is one for each residential college, plus Commons. Here is Commons:
Then Branford College:
Jonathan Edwards:
Saybrook:
Berkeley:
Grace Hopper:
And Trumbull:
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Bonus points for Berkeley College with its Swiss Room, a transplanted 16th century room from Switzerland:
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College of the Holy Cross, Worcester MA, at twilight has strong Hogwarts vibes. Fenwick and O’Kane halls seen here are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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That actually reminded me of the Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.
Although one of my favorite Collegiate Gothic buildings anywhere, I am not sure I would give it my maximum Hogwarts score for the exterior, because in a way it is very American, indeed very Pittsburgh, in that is actually a skyscraper in Gothic form:
However, the massive Commons Room (complete with thrones!) is perhaps a little more on point:
And then there are the Nationality Rooms–again not necessarily Hogwartsy per se, because these are actually an outgrowth of Pittsburgh’s self-identity as a city of immigrants. Still, very unique spaces, most available for classes:
https://www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu/rooms
So I guess I will say this all feels to me like what would happen if wizardry was real . . . and there was a major wizarding school in Pittsburgh.
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Too many to post them all, by the way, but some personal favorites:
German:
Irish:
English:
Indian:
Korean (one of the newest ones):
Ukrainian:
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Great pictures. Thanks! I went to graduate school at Pitt and most of my classes were in the Cathedral of Learning.
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Those Nationality Rooms are amazing. What a cool tribute to the communities that helped build Pittsburgh.
Though that Commons Room evokes a slightly different fantasy vibe for me than Hogwarts. “And they call it a mine. A mine‽‽”
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I am sure on some occasions, to some it has felt like a tomb . . . .