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Osborn Cottage was constructed in 1883 for the fickle bride of a former Iowa State professor.

“When he brought his bride out to see the cottage, she said she refused to live there because it was too far away from town,” said Liz Beck, coordinator of the University Honors Program.

Herbert Osborn, former chairman of the entomology department, and his wife moved into the house anyway, according to an article in the Daily on Oct. 6, 1966.

Osborn’s wife soon decided she liked the house and the surrounding environment, and all five of the Osborns’ children were born in the house.

The Osborn family lived in the house until 1898, when Herbert Osborn transferred to Ohio State University.

Julia Stanton, dean of women during the ’20s, stayed in the house for a brief stint.

After Stanton, Boyne Platt, former vice president for Business in Finance, moved his family into Osborn Cottage. Platt added a garage for his Model-T Ford, a front screened-in porch and a playhouse for his sons.

Two of the first organizations to occupy the building were the Foreign Student Services from 1968-74 and the Student Alumni Association from 1975-76.

Osborn Cottage’s existence was threatened during the 1972-73 school year when plans were drawn up for a new design building to be erected in its location. But because of pedestrian traffic, lack of availability of utilities and student objection, the design center was built elsewhere.

Osborn Cottage currently is the home to the University Honors Program.

“We have been in the building since 1976,” Beck said. “It is the main office for the Honors Program. And so for the University Honors Program, we house the staff in here, and we have classes for the Freshman Honors students in this building.”

Prior to Osborn Cottage, Beck said the Honors Program was located in Botany Hall, which is now called Carrie Chapman Catt Hall.

However, the Honors Program will be moving again to a new building within two years due to the overwhelming size of the program and heating and plumbing problems, Beck said.

“We are hoping to have [the new building] by the spring of 2001,” Beck said. “[Osborn] no longer serves us. We have more students than we can reasonably accommodate in the building.”