[1] Bertram Hall is located on the south side of the Radcliffe Quadrangle, between its grassy center and Shepard Street.

Most windows are set in rectangular openings with stone sills and splayed stone lintels; those on the ground floors of the end sections are set in blind round-arch recesses.

The main entrance is at the center, sheltered by a single-story porch with Tuscan columns and a balustrade on the roof.

[3] The hall was built in 1901 to a design by Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr.

It was the first of the quadrangle's buildings to be built, and the first dormitory building at Radcliffe College, representing a major shift in the college's policy from placement of its boarding students in private homes.