At the opposite end of the Yard, muchcoveted Grays, known as the "Harvard Hilton," also features large common rooms with scenic views. Four- and five-person Stoughton and Hollis, the almost-identicalNorth Yard dorms, offer one huge room for twopeople. Hollis and Stoughton roommates eitherbecome bosom buddies fast or spend the year achingto slit each other's throats. In any case, theyget to know each other well. Tucked away behind these two dorms are small,oft-forgotten Mower and Lionel. Only about 70people live back here in the secluded,relandscaped courtyard. Lionel and Mower suiteshave large common rooms with beautiful woodfloors, and most residents live in singles forpart of the year. Some residents of these intimatedorms say the close-knit experience is nurturingand caring. Others complain that the familyatmosphere can grow a bit too suffocating. Wigglesworth, the Yard's most oddly-shapeddorm, consists of several unconnected sectionsstrung out along busy Mass. Ave. Wigglesworthresidents may never meet the students in theirneighboring entries. If the dorm lackscohesiveness, however, it scores high points forquality of living. Its spacious triple andquadruple suites have a close-up view of livelystreet activity, and traffic quiets down late atnight so residents can sleep. Wigg is also themost recently renovated first-year dorm. Straus, hidden in the Yard's leafy southwestcorner, is the second-youngest dorm in the Yard.Straus' smallish but nice quad suites containprivate bathrooms. With Store 24 right across thestreet, Straus residents are set for the manyall-nighters that first-years invariably end uppulling, particularly when expos papers are due. Weld has funky, castle-like trim on the outsideand large, social hallways on the inside. Thedorm, which underwent a massive renovation in1992, was the first Yard dorm to be fullyhandicapped-accessible. Those first-yearsstationed in Weld will be only the fourth group tolive there since the renovation. The observatoryis a nice touch. And you can't beat the laundryroom right in the basement. Matthews' Gothic exterior resembles the set ofa horror movie and its dark interior hallways canbe a little spooky. But the wood-paneled rooms arenicely sized, and Matthews residents often turnthe hallways and stairwells into an arena forcreative dorm games. Matthews was renovated in1993. The renovations did not include elevators,and living on the top floor can be extraordinarilydifficult, although occupants are often in greatshape. Less history-but sometimes more fun-awaits theresidents of the Union dorms. Located just a fewfeet behind what used to be the first-year dininghall, these dorms are converted apartmentbuildings with reputations for wildness. Pennypackers' central circular staircase is agreat place for congregating. And people do. "ThePack's" bright landing are full of people at allhours, and a four story beer funnel makes anappearance on its open stairwell once a year orso. Pennypacker's rooms are not massive, but theirquirky shapes offer a change of pace from thestandard Yard dorms. Hurlbut residents--who call their dorm "theButt" and themselves Hurl-beu-tians--live in"pods;" huge circular common rooms with singlesbranching off of them, or "suites," four rooms andbathroom adjoining a small hallway. Most ofHurlbut's oddly shaped rooms are comfortable andin good repair. Unlike the other first-year residences,Greenough feels much like a "typical" collegedorm. Long narrow hallways, tiny boxy rooms, andcommunal bathrooms are the norm here. Students at other colleges, most of whom livein minuscule two-person boxes with cinder blockwalls and linoleum floors tend to get jealous whenthey see pictures of elegant Harvard quarters. Andwith good reason. Harvard's dorms have somedrawbacks, of course; students need to develop thestamina to climb stairs and a high tolerance forold architecture. But a housing system thatinvolves working fireplaces, wooden floors,spacious rooms and beautiful landscaping isn'tsuch a bad start to a Harvard career.
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