Willmeng Completes Work on Outdoor Addition to Historic Piper Writer’s House at ASU

Willmeng Construction has completed renovations of the President’s Cottage which housed Arizona State University’s presidents from 1907 to 1959. The house is now the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing. The Willmeng team led construction of a large, outdoor covered patio which provides the fondly referred to Piper Writer’s House with space to host larger gatherings, workshops and performances.

The Piper Writer’s House was originally called the President’s Cottage and it served as the home for several university presidents until 1959 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its rich history includes visits from notable figures like Robert Frost, who was a guest of ASU President Grady Gammage Sr., whose family was the last one to live in the house. The house later became the Alumni House and University Archives before being designated as the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing in 1995.

The outdoor space was designed by 4Line Studio. The construction involved repurposing brick pavers from the former walkways at the newly renovated Alumni Lawn, with European Pavers serving as the subcontractor for that phase of the project. Shade Industries was the subcontractor for the steel shade structure.