Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center

Wonderful campus!

I have finally discovered the ideal place to work away from the office.
The Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center is, as the name suggests, intended as a place for Stanford alums to call home when visiting campus.
Right now I am sitting in a «living room» that Leland Stanford himself couldn’t have helped being impressed by: it’s filled with plush couches and chairs for 10+ separate groups, pristine tiled floors and floor-​to-​ceiling windows that look out onto the even-​more-​impressive terraced courtyard. The grand piano looks tiny just floating in one corner of the room.
Beyond the living room, there is also a business center with plentiful desks and some conference rooms, the courtyard itself with lots of tables for your afternoon meeting, and the Alumni Café with its decent lineup of food and beverages.
I believe the building’s upstairs are filled with offices for both the Alumni Association and Office of Development. Not a bad place to come to work every day.
Overall, the Center is a better place to work than the lobby of a Four Seasons… and when you squint a little and get into your work (or book or lounging), you can drift into a dream of being back at home on Stanford campus, but with the beer smells of dorm life replaced with the lavender scent of an Atherton estate.