Built in 1911, it was a rectangular Spanish Renaissance Revival style dwelling, with a low hipped roof and wraparound verandah.

[1] Irving Female College was established in 1856, at a time when educational opportunities were expanding for women across the United States.

Its founder was Mechanicsburg businessman Solomon Gorgas, who named the college in honor of the noted American author Washington Irving.

[8] The curriculum later expanded to include shorter secretarial and home economics courses, to appeal to new career fields opening up to women.

Two of the most notable chose less typical pursuits: Ida Kast, Class of 1892, became the first woman admitted to the practice of law in Cumberland County; Jane Deeter Rippon '02 worked first as a social worker in New York, then rose to be national executive director of the Girl Scouts.

[10] In the 1920s, Irving College suffered from limited financial resources, competition from coeducational schools, and an inability to meet increasingly rigorous standards for higher education.