Seneca Snags Space in Square

The Seneca announced Thursday that it had acquired a house in Harvard Square, making it the second all-female organization to have its own space near campus.

The property, which will likely be ready for use by this fall, was purchased by “a friend of the Seneca” and will be leased to the group until they have “sufficient financial resources” to buy it, according to the press release.

Up until spring 2005, no female final club had a house, but the Bee Club leased space in the Square last year.

“In terms of acquiring a house, it’s something we’ve been actively pursuing ever since our founding,” said Seneca President Lauren H. Fifield ’06. The women's group was founded in 1999.

The organization has a Development/Real Estate Committee to aid this effort.

But Fifield added that although the Seneca had been preparing for this event for seven years, its actual occurrence was sudden.

“In real estate things happen very quickly,” she said. “Especially in Cambridge, which is a very volatile market.”

Fifield said that she did not know the identity of the benefactor who had helped the Seneca acquire property.

The Seneca, which will take up residence at 15 Mount Auburn St., joins the male final clubs the Fly Club, the Phoenix-S.K. Club, and the Spee Club on the road. According to a City of Cambridge web site, the Seneca property is an easement, or protected building, as are many of the male final clubs.

Unlike a lease, an easement only gives the holder a right of use to the property, not a right of possession. Oftentimes the right is described as the right to use the land of another for a certain purpose.

The property would not be a party venue, but would be primarily used for social events and for discussions of women’s issues, Fifield said.

“Our mission is a dual mission,” she said. “One side of it is in a social capacity and the other is geared more towards women’s outreach.”

The press release also described the acquisition as “important progress for all women at Harvard.”

“It will serve to improve the social and academic gender balance at Harvard by providing a fully women-operated and mediated open social space on campus and facilitating the growth of female professional networks,” according to the press release.

Fifield said that the Seneca hoped to hold some open houses and events on the property once its planned renovations were complete.

But “it will always be primarily for the membership itself, to have internal events and hang out in,” she said.

The house will have some renovation work done on it over the summer to reflect its changed function, according to Fifield, who added that the Seneca had “not ruled out leasing” some of the property for a short time while it is developed into the society’s headquarters.

–Staff writer Alexandra C. Bell can be reached at acbell@fas.harvard.edu.