Sigma Chi, a fraternity that lost its home in 2001 but continued to assemble in dorm rooms, classrooms and church basements as it searched for a permanent meeting place, has bought a house near Harvard Yard.

The house—a gray, three-story, late nineteenth-century Victorian building located at 1124 Mass. Ave.—sold for $940,000, according to former owner Walter G. Guffey. When the house went on the market in April, it was listed at $1.495 million.

Matthew B. Salzberg ’05, president of Harvard’s chapter of the national order, announced Monday that Sigma Chi negotiated the deal with Guffey through an alumnus member who lives in Boston.

“This is a huge triumph for all of us,” said Salzberg, who added that he was impressed with how quickly current and past members of the fraternity were able to raise the money to buy the house.

“I’m very proud of how everybody stepped up to donate so much money in such a short time,” Salzberg said. “We had some big donors, but it was a very large, broad, grass-roots donation campaign which really exceeded everyone’s expectations,” he said.

Over 100 undergraduates and alums donated to the house fund, according to a statement released by the fraternity.

Of the selling price, Guffey said, “I would love to have ratcheted it up some, but we didn’t have any leverage.”

The sale seems to contradict statements made by both Guffey and the fraternity earlier this fall. In November, Guffey told The Crimson that Sigma Chi had lost out in its bid, and that he hoped to finalize a deal with a local scientist.

Then chapter president Jean-Pierre R. Jacquet ’05 said that “neither the undergraduate chapter nor the alumni of Harvard Sigma Chi are currently planning to purchase or lease any property.”

The high bidding scientist was Shailesh R. Sahay ’02, the Sigma Chi alum who ultimately brokered the deal, according to Guffey.

At a ceremony on Monday, Guffey said he presented the house’s title and keys to Sahay.

Guffey, who is co-owner of his own real estate firm, Charles Associates, said he had mixed emotions about selling a house that has been in his family for 100 years and was previously owned by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Class of 1829.

“It was the best thing for myself and my siblings,” Guffey said. “But I certainly miss it. It had a great history.”

In 1904, Guffey’s grandmother moved into the house with her husband. As janitors at Harvard, Guffey said the couple managed Brentford Hall, an undergraduate dormitory.

He said his grandmother detested her daily task of shining the shoes of every Brentford Hall resident and would withdraw to her home on Mass. Ave. to “escape from bondage.”