The bunnies roving Leverett House's courtyard are not the only cool things about the house. The biggest upperclassmen house, with roughly 500 students, Leverett is full of unique quirks and surprises. Set right on the river with a view of the ridiculously photogenic Weeks Bridge, Leverett is the perfect location for the budding freshman photographer or the varsity athlete. And if you’re looking for a pretty spacious suite, the Leverett towers are almost unrivaled amongst the river houses. Not only would incoming Leverett residents be getting one of the most newly renovated houses—they would be joining a community of students whose house pride is truly unmatched by any other house.
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You’ll never run out of living options if you’re placed in Leverett House on Thursday. Sophomores can pick from suits in the Leverett Towers, the newly-renovated McKinlock Hall, or overflow housing in DeWolfe apartments. Lev’s F and G towers have large rooms with natural lighting and views of the Charles. The best part? Sophomores—unlike in some other houses—get to pick their rooms before they leave for the summer, so you’ll know what you’re getting into ahead of time. Steffan Paul ’19—one of the social chairs for Leverett's House Committee—said he currently lives in a suite with a “really unnecessarily big common room, two doubles and a single.” Sounds good to us!
Following the most recent renovations to the house in 2014, Leverett is replete with comfy study niches intended for both independent and group studying. According to House Committee chair Belle Lee ’18, the Leverett House Library—which also doubles as a theater space—is a great location to study because it’s quiet and has really good lighting. Lee said both of Lev’s towers are equipped with new Keurig machines, meaning you are likely to start nursing a healthy coffee addiction if you’re placed in this house.
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Lev boasts one of the most enthusiastic house communities along the river. We took a walk through the house and chatted with some current House Committee members about the best parts of Leverett's house community:
What made you decide to run for HoCo?
BL: When I came in as a sophomore, the Lev HoCo was super friendly and they really made me and my block mates feel at home, and I just wanted to form a part of that community.
SP: I started last semester because I wanted to be on a team to organize things, and I kept on with it because it’s a really great community of people and they really care about the house.
What are your Steins like?
Cynthia Kim '18: Our steins are very chill yet super fun and filled with energy. We usually have a theme with some awesome food, amazing drinks, and loud music. It’s a good time for the community to bond together while getting some time to unwind at the end of the week. The room is generally pretty packed and people hang around, eat, talk, drink, play pool, watch a sports game, sing and even occasionally dance. {shortcode-e2083cdd076d064f7207cadae161fa476bf060be}
Still not sold on Leverett? We asked the ~hard~ questions to some HoCo members and regular house residents:
What would you tell freshmen who are looking to get into Leverett?
BL: So first of all, I’ll tell all the freshman than any house they get is great, but if they’re lucky and they get Lev, there’s a lot of things they can look forward to. Being in the biggest house, you’ll meet a lot of new friends, so personally for me, I actually had a bunch of friends that I wasn’t able to block with, and they also got Lev just because, you know, probability and statistics. But apart from that, our staff at Lev is probably one of the best things about being in this house. Bonnie, our swiper, in the D-hall, remembers everyone’s names, she’s super friendly, and our building manager is very nice, very funny to talk to, and also our Faculty Deans, and Res deans and the tutors—there’s so many amazing tutors in Lev. And anytime you have a question, it doesn’t even have to be pre-career, or anything related to your concentration, the tutors in your entryway are always there.
What do you think makes your house special?
BL: We have amazing river views in the towers. Literally starting from any of the floors, you can see the sunset on the river, and I love that. Also if you’re in McKinlock, access to the D-hall is super nice when it’s snowing outside, and DeWolfe always is a preferred site with big doubles and a nice common room. But apart from that, I would say the location of Lev is great. It’s right next to Week’s Bridge, so if you want to go over to the stadium or anything for any of our big games like Harvard-Yale, it’s super easy to go to and just being on the river it’s sort of like an in between distance. It’s closer to the yard than Mather and I just think it’s very nice.
If you had to describe your house in 3 words what would they be?
Selena Rincon '17: Big, pretty, I'm really bad at this, sorry. Rabbits.
SP: Bunnies. Fucking. Everywhere.
James B. Jones '19: Please. Ignore. Steffan.
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What is your best Leverett House memory?
SR: Housing Day was a lot of fun. They bring a little petting area for the bunnies so it’s really cute.
Can you talk about house spirit/community?
Kaitlin Tse '19: It’s different than the freshman dorms, I can attest to this. In Annenberg you see all your peers in the same grade, which is great, but it’s not really an intimate connection. But in a house, you have that and it’s not just with freshmen but with upperclassmen as well.
If you had to change one thing about your house what would it be?
KT: The towers are very cell-like, so it's kind of like Canaday.
What is the biggest misconception about your house?
SP: That the towers are uncomfortable and ugly. The towers are great—they're fantastic.
Which superhero is your housemaster most similar to?
KT: Some kind of detective or someone with gadgets. He's a physics guy, so it's always physics night here.
What Hogwarts house would your house get sorted into?
JJ: Slytherin, because it’s green. Or Hufflepuff, 'cause I think we’re really cute.
SP: Hufflepuff’s fucking adorable.
JJ: They’re also losers.
SP: Is it all about winning, Jones?
JJ: It is.
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