Main Quad

The Main Quad is defined by its continuous arcade of sandstone arches and red tile roofs, which wrap around a wide, rectangular lawn. Built at the end of the nineteenth century, it forms the academic heart of Stanford University. When Jane Stanford insisted on finishing the campus after her husband died, she demanded a design inspired by the California missions. She famously ordered the architects to use the local sandstone and the red tiles to keep the campus grounded in the landscape of the West.