Stoughton and Hollis, the almost identical North Yard dorms, offer one huge room for two people. Hollis and Stoughton roommates either become bosom buddies fast or spend the year aching to slit each other's throats. In any case, they get to know each other well.
Tucked away behind these two dorms are small, oft-forgotten Mower and Lionel. Only about 70 people live back here in the secluded, re-landscaped courtyard. Lionel and Mower suites have large common rooms with beautiful wood floors, and most residents live in singles for part of the year. Some residents of these intimate dorms say the close-knit experience is nurturing and caring. Others complain that the family atmosphere can grow a bit too suffocating.
Wigglesworth, the Yard's most oddly shaped dorm, consists of several unconnected sections strung out along busy Mass. Ave. Wigglesworth residents may never meet the students in their neighboring entries. If the dorm lacks cohesiveness, however, it scores high points for quality of living. Its spacious triple and quadruple suites have a close-up view of lively street activity, and traffic quiets down late a night so residents can sleep. Wigg is also the most recently renovated first-year dorm.
Straus, hidden in the Yard's leafy southwest corner, is the second-youngest dorm in the Yard. Straus' smallish but nice quad suites contain private bathrooms.
Weld has a funky, castle-like trim on the outside and large, social hallways on the inside. The dorm, which underwent a massive renovation in 1992, was the first yard dorm to be fully handicapped-accessible.
Matthew's Gothic exterior resembles the set of a horror movie, and its dark interior hallways can be a little spooky. But the wood-paneled rooms are nicely sized, and Matthews residents often turn the hallways and stairwells into an arena for creative dorm games. Matthews was renovated in 1993.
Less history--but sometimes more fun--awaits the residents of the Union dorms. Located just a few feet behind what used to be the first-year dining hall, these dorms are converted apartment buildings with reputations for wildness.
Pennypacker's central circular staircase is a great place for congregating. And people do. "The Pack's" bright landings are full of people at all hours, and a four-story beer funnel makes an appearance on its open stairwell once a year or so. Pennypacker's rooms are not massive, but their quirky shapes offer a change of pace from the standard Yard dorms.
Hurlbut residents--who call their dorm "the Butt"--live in "pods;" huge circular common rooms with singles branching off of them. Most of Hurlbut's oddly shaped rooms are comfortable and in good repair.
Unlike the other first-year residences, Greenough feels much like a "typical" college dorm. Long narrow hallways, tiny boxy rooms and communal bathrooms are the norm here.
Students at other colleges, most of whom live in minuscule two-person boxers with cinder block walls and linoleum floors, tend to get jealous when they see pictures of elegant Harvard quarters. And with good reason. Harvard's dorms have some drawbacks, of course; students need to develop the stamina to climb stairs and a high tolerance for old architecture. But a housing system that involves working fireplaces, wooden floors, spacious rooms and beautiful landscaping isn't such a bad start to a Harvard career.