Uplands Mansion The main building of the Crystal campus is the
Uplands Mansion, originally built as a private residence by
Templeton Crocker, scion of railroad baron
Charles F. Crocker. Crocker hired architect
Willis Polk to design the home in the style of a
neo-classical Renaissance palazzo, although
Porter Garnett called it "more a varied, free, and personal interpretation of classic architecture than a rendering of the neoclassic", adding that "Mr. Polk proves that he can be at once daring and discreet, reckless and restrained" in 1915. It has since been recognized as the first
Beaux-Arts mansion in Hillsborough. Construction of the home started in 1911 and was completed in 1917 after six years, at a cost of $1.6 million ($ in dollars). Completion was delayed by the onset of
World War I and suspension of merchant shipping services. The front
facade of
Uplands included an extended
porte-cochère for the main entrance, with two gardens including reflecting pools; the rear formed a small courtyard, flanked by the extended
loggias. It featured 39 rooms including 12 bedrooms, and 12 baths. The mansion's interior has European fixtures including handmade marble fireplaces and mantlepieces, all originating from a single 16th-century Italian castle, Italian ironwork, Chinese porcelains, French and Flemish tapestries, It was occupied intermittently — most notably by Soviet Ambassador
Andrei Gromyko and his delegation to the
1951 Japanese Peace conference for a week and a half — and the estate was subdivided, reducing the site to . The Crocker family re-acquired it in 1955 and Jennie Crocker Henderson, Templeton's sister, donated it to the trustees of the Crystal Springs School For Girls in 1956.
School origins The school was conceived by Aylett B. (Borel) Cotton and his wife, Martha Jane (née Knecht) in 1948; Cotton was the grandson of both
Aylett R. Cotton and
Antoine Borel. The school was incorporated as the
Crystal Springs School for Girls in 1952. Head of school Richard Loveland was hired in 1973; at the time, the school was struggling with inconsistent enrollment and competition from other local private schools. In 1978, Loveland decided to begin admitting boys and the school was renamed to
Crystal Springs and Uplands Schools; Crystal Springs remained the name for the girls school and Uplands was the new boys school.
Middle School Campus On August 29, 2017, Crystal opened a middle school campus approximately south of the upper school campus, at 10 Davis Drive in the city of
Belmont. The middle school campus consists of three buildings: a main academic building, a cafe/multipurpose/music building, and a gymnasium. Today, both the upper and middle school are one of the top middle and high schools in the nation - ranking 8th in the best college prep private schools in the nation. == Athletics ==