John Notman, of Philadelphia, was America's leading practitioner of the Italianate Revival style, which became increasingly popular in the mid-19th century. His first building in Princeton was a small structure on Mercer Street that Richard Stockton Field built in 1846, at his own expense, to serve as the College's short-lived law school.

Known as Ivy Hall, this building hints at the distinctively massive style that Notman employed in numerous buildings in Princeton. Ivy Hall later became the first clubhouse of Ivy Club and is now owned by Trinity Episcopal Church. The following year, Notman was commissioned to design the new chapel.

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