Adams House

As part of our Housing Market series, we'll be posting reviews and rankings for each of Harvard's 12 residential Houses over the next few days. Click here to read more about the series. Nestled snugly between Harvard Square shops and restaurants, Adams House, incorporated in 1931, is the oldest of the Harvard Houses and also the closest House to the Yard. Most of the buildings of Adams House were built as Gold Coast dormitories at the turn of the century to provide rich Harvard undergraduates with a luxurious alternative to the antiquated Yard dorms. In previous years, Adams has dominated the House rankings due to its superb location and beauty.

Housing Videos: Roundup Part Deux

It is not unusual for a House to ridicule its rivals in video form, as payback for being made fun of in previous years. And this week has seen much of the same. With just days to spare, more videos from Leverett, Cabot, Currier, Winthrop, Kirkland, Quincy, Dunster, and Pfoho have joined the list that is 2012's Housing Season. Here's a recap of the new additions.

Housing Day Mascot

With housing day coming up on Thursday, houses have begun to demonstrate their house pride with videos and mascots. Pictured here, an elephant, the mascot of Eliot House, sits in the back of Gov 1093, waiting for the class to start.

Quincy House

As part of our Housing Market series, we'll be posting reviews and rankings for each of Harvard's 12 residential Houses over the next few days. Click here to read more about the series. Creative housing video? Check. Stellar House Masters? Check. Convenient location? Double check. Quincy students can say that they fared quite well in the housing lottery. Said one Quincyite, "Everyone loves Quincy...Plus we're being renovated first. The proof is in the pudding."

Lowell House

With a belltower that casts shadows across its romantic, ivy-covered courtyards each morning and afternoon, Lowell House is known first and foremost for its beauty. This river house may not have a view of the Charles, but its residents don’t seem to be too upset. One commenter discussed loving Lowell because of "the people, the dining hall, the house masters...everything!"

Pforzheimer House

If come Housing day you end up one of the unlucky (or fantastically blessed) few to be Quadded, do not despair. Living in Pfoho, the highest-ranking Quad House three years running, you won't mind scheduling your life around Shuttle Boy. What's great about Pfoho? One commenter wrote, "Polar bears EVERYWHERE. Also the sex."

Leverett House

As part of our Housing Market series, we'll be posting reviews and rankings for each of Harvard's 12 residential Houses over the next few days. Click here to read more about the series. It seems that Houses, like data sets, tend towards the mean as they get larger. In that vein, this year's poll revealed that Leverett is just about average. Leverett is the biggest of the 12 residential Houses, with students spread across three different buildings whose variety give the House its charm. From McKinlock Hall (or Old Leverett) to the Leverett Towers to housing on two floors of 20 DeWolfe St., Leverett pleases those who tend toward more modern housing while still accommodating residents yearning for an ivy-lined, stereotypical Harvard building. Residents praise the middle House along the river for its "beautiful river view," "MONKEY BREAD," and of course for the fact that "Jeremy Lin lived there." As one resident eloquently put it, the best thing about Lev is "EVERYTHINGGGGG."

Mather House

As part of our Housing Market series, we'll be posting reviews and rankings for each of Harvard's 12 residential Houses over the next few days. Click here to read more about the series. Perhaps no Harvard House inspires as passionate, conflicting opinions as Mather does. While some lament its distance from the Yard, others note that Mather has its own shuttle stop, and argue that it's not nearly as far as the Quad Houses. Many complain about the concrete architecture and aesthetically unpleasing wall-to-wall carpeting, but on the flip side, Mather guarantees its residents singles for life. That being said, most Matherites put distance and beauty aside; for them, it's "Mather all the way baby."

Mockery, Spoofs, and Remakes: A Housing Video Roundup

With Housing Day under a week away, eight new videos to advertise the upperclass Houses have been released. As always, there is a healthy amount of inter-house teasing. Here's our recap.

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Winthrop House

As part of our Housing Market series, we'll be posting reviews and rankings for each of Harvard's 12 residential Houses over the next few days. Click here to read more about the series. Named after not just one, but two famous men—the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and his descendant, who served as a professor of mathematics and natural philosophy and, more importantly, as president of the University—John Winthrop House consists of two buildings dating from 1914. Despite Winthrop's subpar housing, the House boasts a high level of House spirit, a tightly-knit community, and several impressive, if underused, social spaces.

Cabot House

As part of our Housing Market series, we'll be posting reviews and rankings for each of Harvard's 12 residential Houses over the next few days. Click here to read more about the series. There's nothing worse than getting a bum rap, and the replies to Flyby's poll were unequivocal about Cabot House's reputation: "It's sad how people don't know how great Cabot is;" "People don't give it enough credit, and give you crap for living there when it's actually awesome;" "People hate on it too much, for no reason." Perhaps Cabotites are a bit bitter about past rankings, but they have plenty of things to say about why Cabot House is one of the best Houses on campus, if not the best.

Dunster House

As part of our Housing Market series, we'll be posting reviews and rankings for each of Harvard's 12 residential Houses over the next few days. Click here to read more about the series. Welcome to Dunster House! Built in 1930, this house has a proud history. Known for its red bell-tower and its wide courtyard that looks over the Charles, Dunster House was one of the first two Houses constructed under former President Abbott L. Lowell's House Plan. Overall, while Dunster is certainly not the most centrally located House nor the House with the best rooming, it maintains a popular dining hall and a great deal of House pride.

The Housing Market Reviews: An Introduction

For the past three years, The Crimson has ranked the Houses from one to 12 in anticipation of Housing Day. This year, Housing Day falls on March 8, and the top House will be announced on the evening of March 7, just in time for a successful River Run and last minute prayers to the River (or Quad) Gods.

Quincy Fall Construction To Start at 8 a.m.

Renovation of Old Quincy will kick off with about 15 hours of construction each work day this summer, Leverett House Master Howard M. Georgi ’68 announced in an email sent to the Leverett House community Monday morning.