OU’s first president, David Ross Boyd, moved into the house he built in 1905 little realizing that it would become the home of future presidents as well. Over the years, Boyd House, as it came to be known, underwent a series of renovations and changes, including landscaping. The four photos in this panel show its progress from 1906 to 1998.



By the 1920s, the university owned the house and it had already undergone a major addition that added the columns on its front and living space on both its east and west sides. President Bizzell and his family lived in the house then. The more formal landscaping during the Bizzells’ occupancy projected a sense of serenity.



During the George Cross years, Boyd House landscaping changed again and became less formal. The house looked less secluded and took on a more open appearance that was, perhaps, reflective of the Cross’s informal lifestyle and closeness to the campus community.



From 1969 until 1996, Boyd House was used as the visitor’s center. Following a major privately-funded restoration and expansion, it again became the official residence of the University’s president and first lady, David L. Boren and Molly Shi Boren. Boyd House gardens were designed as a collaborative effort between the Borens, the University’s Department of Landscape and Grounds, and OU professors Deborah Dalton and James Yoch.