e architectural competition to design Denny Hall was won in 1893 by Charles W. Saunders, a local Seattle architect. Constructed of Tenino sandstone, quarried locally in Tenino Washington, and pressed brick with terra cotta details, Denny Hall was the first building constructed on campus. As it was the only academic building for some years it was designed to house the entire administration and teaching programs and also included a 736 seat auditorium and a library. Although Denny Hall reflects the French Chateauesque tendencies of American architecture in the early 1890's, it also shows vestiges of the Richardsonian Romanesque including semi-circular round arches, rows of windows, the recessed entrance and cylindrical towers. The southeast facing main elevation in particular has a remarkable resemblance to Sever Hall at Harvard, a building designed by architect H.H. Richardson, after whom the Richardsonian Romanesque style was named. It has been speculated that the aesthetic of Sever Hall had a direct influence on Charles Saunders, who had been born and raised in Cambridge Massachusetts before he came to the west and developed his architectural career in Seattle.