Ideal Fraternity/Sorority House?

[jwsteele]

There's been a lot of discussion in the "Post Pictures" thread along with discussions in my own fraternity about building a new house so I thought it would be cool to see what your dream house for your chapter would be.

Mine would be an old fashioned Tudor style house with a huge front lawn. On the first floor there would be a formal living room with a "gentlemen's club" type feel (dark wood panelling, leather couches & chairs), a big dining room, a television room with tons of sports paraphenalia, couches and a huge entertainment center, a pantry like kitchen fully stocked with random snacks and a soda fountain, a study room fashioned like an in-house library (once again dark wood and bookshelves) and then an area in the back with grungier furniture and carpets that would be a place to party without ruining the front rooms.

There would be bedrooms on the second and third floors and they would be mostly doube rooms with a single for the president and maybe some huge triples on the third floor. There would be a second, upstairs "party lounge" on the second floor and a study room on the third floor. Both floors would have bathrooms and a laundry closet.

The chapter room would be formal and decorated with fraternity crests and paraphenalia and would be hidden somewhere in the house with a secret location so others couldn't find it.

There would also be a basement with a TV area and a weight room/gym.

The backyard would have something fun like a sand volleyball court or a basketball court. There would be a large parking lot, a patio with chairs for grilling and a lot of grass to play sports.

The house would sleep about 40 (my chapter is about 80 men strong and we'll probably be at 90-95 by next fall) which would allow pretty much everybody who wants to live in the chance but nobody would be forced to live in.

What about you guys?

[AOIIalum]

My ideal chapter house? This is coming from a former Corp President and an alumna, so here goes:

One which is centrally located to the other sororities on campus with ample parking, in good repair inside and out, attractive and appropriate decor, guest mini-suite (use for official visitors, sisters spending the night, resident "sick room" or temporary storage when not in other use), and an updated House Director apartment to allow her plenty of space to work and live with some privacy. Formal and informal living space, a formal dining room which could also work as a multi-purpose room, house kitchen with a separate resident pantry and kitchenette (for when the house kitchen is closed). Since I'm coming from a sorority mindset, add in a breathtaking staircase from the 2nd level into the entry hall. High-speed internet throughout.

As for the residential areas, my ideal would be to have competitive residential facilities (meaning style and number of resident bedrooms, bathrooms, showers, etc.) as well as state of the art computer and study rooms. It would be nice to have a small all-purpose room with a large closet (for luggage, winter coats, etc) on each resident floor as well. For the chapter: a large all-purpose meeting space, a smaller officer's work space, a dedicated "arts and crafts" room where posters, banners, recruitment props, etc. are to be made without members having to worry about paint spills or creative accidents in other parts of the house, member mailboxes, an informal room, a dedicated rec or workout room, and finally more storage space!

[SWTXBelle]

My dream would be to purchase the old Soldiers and Sailors Hospital on Belvin Street in San Marcos. Back in the day it was the Pike house (actually you can read about it in Weird Texas) but it was a wreck when they had it, and is abandoned and forlorn now.
It is in a historical district, and has a MASSIVE front lawn. I'd love to be able to restore all 3 (or is it 4) stories. Make the first floor meeting space, media room, study, formal living room for guests, kitchen and dining, and housemother's quarters.And yes, make sure to have an impressive staircase - coming down from the very top floor!
Second floor - guest suite and suites - single rooms (hey, there is tons of room!) sharing a bath.
Third floor - more rooms - and storage, storage, storage!
I'd have a parking garage tucked behind the building - and a garden area.
This would all take only a bizillion dollars. Oh - and my chapter coming back.
A girl can dream . . .

[banditone]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

My dream would be to purchase the old Soldiers and Sailors Hospital on Belvin Street in San Marcos. Back in the day it was the Pike house (actually you can read about it in Weird Texas) but it was a wreck when they had it, and is abandoned and forlorn now.
It is in a historical district, and has a MASSIVE front lawn. I'd love to be able to restore all 3 (or is it 4) stories. Make the first floor meeting space, media room, study, formal living room for guests, kitchen and dining, and housemother's quarters.And yes, make sure to have an impressive staircase - coming down from the very top floor!
Second floor - guest suite and suites - single rooms (hey, there is tons of room!) sharing a bath.
Third floor - more rooms - and storage, storage, storage!
I'd have a parking garage tucked behind the building - and a garden area.
This would all take only a bizillion dollars. Oh - and my chapter coming back.
A girl can dream . . .

Pics for SWTX - this is the only pic I could find of that building:

[macallan25]

Our house is pretty much what my ideal house would be. We are very fortunate to have it.

[SWTXBelle]

banditone, you are my hero. How cool is that building???

[banditone]

Very intimidating. You sure it isn’t haunted???

[Tom Earp]

My favorite has always been English Tudor, but the Old South Plantation style is fantastic with the huge columns.

I lost and we have s semi modern house with four columns and stucco and stone.

It is a nice house that is set up as:

Main floor, Meeting room, formal living room, mail niche, Presidents Room and kitchen.

Second floor, two man rooms conected with a comnon bath, shower, two sinks, toilet facilities. A niche for TV or game table.

Basement, Laundry Room, Bed Room, Party/meeting room and Ritual Closet.

banditone has place a picture of my house on site somewhere before grass aand trees were put in place.

Houses are not cheep mto build, we as House Corp. owned a three corner lot across form shcool and the house was built for 3/4 Mil, not counting the lot!

We also had a Brother who was the general contractor for the building so He was looking out for us!

[SWTXBelle]

Why, yes, banditone, as a matter of fact - the book Weird Texas details it . . . (and I highly recommend the Weird state series of books -big fun!)
". . .at some point during one of the fraternity's hazing periods, legend has it, a pledge or pledge were killed carrying out some ritual. The story goes that the brothers had the pledges write down the events of that night in their pledge books, then burn them and finally nail them to the wall. . . Once in San Marcos, we found the place easily.When we rounded a curve in the road and first saw it, our jaws dropped, and our eyes flew wide open. . . The place was incredible, even from a distance - huge, decrepit, creepy. . . there were NO TRESPASSING signs posted all around the old frat house . . .(But of course they went in - SWTXB) We went through a doorway on the left and found ourselves in a big dim room with a collapsing ceiling. The first thing we noticed was the fraternity crest on one wall, then faded Pi Kappa Alpha sympols on another . . .we saw many smears and handprints . . coils of yellow CAUTION tape . . .In a kitchenette we found the words I'm Sorry scrawled below a skull, and in an adjoining room, the wall was decorated with splatters and smeared handprints accompanied by the message Help Me. . . There, under the porch, were the BURNED PLEDGE BOOKS NAILED TO A WOODEN BEAM." (pgs. 262-265 - Weird Texas- by Wesley Treat, Heather Shade, and Rob Riggs.)
NOW - I have to tell you that I did in fact attend Pike parties in the 80s and YES the old hospital was supposed to be haunted but NO no pledges died. It was creepy even back in the day - I remember one floor that had a big hole covered up with a sheet of plywood. It was just too much house to try and restore. Pikes ended up leaving campus - I don't know who owns the building now. My father belonged to the local which became Pike - I may ask him to ask his buddies if they know anything (and to go ahead and get initiated - jeez)

[PhoenixAzul]

1) One where the chimney isn't falling down.
2) One that's bigger than the one we have now. We can only fit 5 girls in the house and the common areas aren't big enough to hold us now, esp. with our growth continuing.
3) A newer one. Period. The house we have now has just seen better times. It's not horrific or anything, it's just old and has all the problems an old house can have (door frames shifted, drafty windows, heat isn't all that great, etc.)
4) a nice big porch for singing.
5) a nice back porch for grilling
6) nice big windows in the living room
7) dedicated ritual space
8) dedicated storage space

[tekeboy]

You people need to stop talking about houses. The century old haunted Pike house (Soldiers Home) at Texas State (SWT) was gutted by arson yesterday. I blame GreekChat. See video at KXAN.com.

[Elephant Walk]

Take the Phi Delt house at SMU and add more of a Southern plantation style (while keeping that deck they have), and you've got it.

[banditone]

n/m.

[SWTXBelle]

Nooooooooooooo Tekeboy, Nooooooooooo!

[macallan25]

Originally Posted by banditone

No SMU house can do it. It's a small campus, you want PURE SIZE.

Explain?

Phi Delt House at SMU is pretty damn big.