This large green quadrangle forms the core of the Middlebury College campus, and was originally used as athletic fields adjacent to the McCullough Gymnasium, which is located on its south side. It is typified by a sloping terrain falling from the Chapel Row on the western ridge  to the backside of the original Old Stone Row on the east. Its rectangular form is defined by these two rows and by spaciously set buildings, most in gray marble and stone and all in a Georgian-related aesthetic. Its major focal features are the spire of Mead Memorial Chapel and the cupola of Old Chapel.

This Main Quadrangle marked the expansion of the campus beyond the limits of its original row overlooking the village. The two Georgian Revival dormitories, Hepburn and Gifford Halls, stand on either side of Mead Chapel, built in the form of a New England meeting house, to form the Chapel Row. By duplicating the Old Stone Row trio of buildings on a grander scale and on the higher ridge to the west, then developing the space in between, the college gained a new internal focus. Along Rt. 125, Voter and Monroe Halls form the north side, and the McCullough Student Center forms its south end.  This quadrangle established the pattern of formally arranged buildings set in a spacious rolling landscape.