The Ottoman Empire.

The Berlin Wall.

The Adams House attitude.

With time, all things crumble.

The populace of Adams House, long renowned for its place in the avant-garde, is becoming a little more conservative. A little more casual. A little more bland.

A little more randomized, as it were.

But as the house that was once "coming to get you" begins to slow its pace, a challenger arises.

"Dunster is the artsy, hip house without the attitude Adams is famous for," says Matthew E. Donahue '97, a Dunster resident.

Still, Adams isn't ready to let go of the artsiness torch just yet.

Like many students, Ana M. Lara '97 lunched in Adams all of last year before making it her first choice in the March housing lottery. And, also like many students, she had a stereotype of house residents in mind.

"What did I expect? Artsy, queer, whatever."

What did she get?

"It's a little preppier than I expected. There are definitely a lot more people into the preppy style."

The housing lottery system of non-ordered choice has brought students of all stripes into what was once the bailiwick of black-clad artistes. In the dining hall, gov now lunch check by jowl with literature concentrators.

"I think because of randomization that you're seeing a lot of students with different interests," says Adams House dining hall checker Jane Kelley.

This demographic shift may have affected house stereotypes, residents say, but it hasn't detracted from the caliber of house life.