Pilcher and Tachau

Lewis Pilcher was a professor of art at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Through his connections at Vassar, Pilcher designed the nine-story North Residence (1907), renamed in 1915 as Jewett House.

The structure is composed of a four-story U-shaped arms framing a quad-side court with the rear nine-story tower incorporating a 30,000 gallon water tank.

The high level of decorative work, including crenellations, grotesque terracotta faces and animals was incongruous to Vassar's restrained Quad dormitories and was nicknamed "Pilcher's Crime".

The structure failed to attract donors who would attach their name and it was renamed in honor of the college's first president, Milo P. Jewett, instead.