Back in my day
-- the early 1970's at Mizzou -- everyone but town girls had to live in the house. That applied to all the NPC groups on campus. About the only exception was second semester seniors when the chapter house was full. House capacity was 60-70 and chapter total was about 90.
I moved in the second semester of freshman year and lived in the house until I graduated -- a total of 3-1/2 years. (I had apartments the two summers I was in school, since the house was closed then.)
Our house was new, compared to the others in Greektown, built in 1964 and very modern. The rooms were built as quads but because our chapter was small (alas) we had mostly triples. Had the house been full we would have used the shared rooms (formal and informal living rooms, the two study rooms, even the chapter room) a lot more, because a four-person room is crowded. Since we were 2 and 3 to a room we could hole up in them more comfortably.
We changed rooms and roommates three times a year (that is, September, end of October, mid-February). I managed to be in a different room every single time (11 rooms out of 16).
It's hard to image Greek life without a chapter house. I know that's not the situation for many of you. The way your campus/chapter does it becomes your norm.
AGDAlum