The site of the International House and library parking was previously the site of seven residences and some 56 varieties of plant life (some rare). The first house constructed in the Melrose Triangle was at 1715 Melrose, built in 1884 for Mr. Ernest Briscoe. The others were built early in the twentieth century. The university began to acquire the houses as they came available following the designation of the “institutional zone” adjacent to the 1960s Urban Renewal project that expanded the campus. The houses were primarily occupied by the Art Department in the 1970s until the Art and Architecture Building was completed. They were razed in the 1980s, and a park and parking were created in 1988.