Housing at the University of Chicago
Housing at the University of Chicago includes seven residence halls that are divided into 48 houses. Each house has an average of 70 students. Freshmen and sophomores must live on-campus. Limited on-campus housing is available to juniors and seniors. The university operates 28 apartment buildings near campus for graduate students.
In 2014, 54% of undergraduates lived in college-owned housing.
History
Gates-Blake and Goodspeed Halls opened in 1892 as the first residence halls for the University of Chicago. The buildings were designed by Henry Ives Cobb and served as dormitories for divinity school and graduate students. The buildings feature oriels along their facades and gables along the roof line that are signs of the Chicago Gothic architecture.The first women's dorm, Foster Hall, opened in 1893. It was converted to offices in 1961–62.
Residence halls
Burton–Judson Courts
Burton–Judson Courts, often known as "BJ", is located at 1005 E. 60th St. and accommodates 320 students. Located south of the Midway Plaisance, Burton-Judson is a castle-like edifice built in a neo-Gothic style similar to that of the university's main quadrangles. It was designed by the Philadelphia firm of Zantzinger, Borie, and Medary. Burton-Judson was the first on-campus residence of eminent astronomer Carl Sagan, who lived in room 141. Burton-Judson contains six houses: Linn-Mathews, Salisbury, Chamberlin, Vincent, Coulter and Dodd-Mead.Campus North Residential Commons
Campus North, often known simply as "North", occupies the previous location of Pierce Tower, and was built from 2013 to 2016. With 15 floors, it has room to accommodate about 800 students and includes a dining hall. The hall contains 8 houses, all of which were formerly located in Broadview, Maclean, New Grad, and Blackstone halls and renamed upon relocation to Campus North. The building is one of Studio Gang Architects many recent contracts in and around the university. In 2018, the completed project was recognized for excellence by the American Institute of Architects, Chicago chapter.International House
The International House historically has housed undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. International House is colloquially known by students as "I-House." Facing the Midway Plaisance, it was created in 1932 as a gift from John D. Rockefeller Jr. specifically to foster relationships between students from different countries. It is notable for having housed many famous artists, scientists, and scholars connected with the university, including Langston Hughes and Enrico Fermi. It hosts many cultural events including dance and musical performances from around the world. Some 40,000 people have lived there since it first opened its doors. I-House Chicago is a member of International Houses Worldwide.An attempt in early 2000 by the University of Chicago administration to close the International House and convert it into a dormitory for the Business School resulted in large student protests and a class-action lawsuit against the university by International House residents. After months of negative media attention and intense public criticism by faculty, alumni, and local activists, the administration finally reversed its decision and allowed the International House to remain open. The International House subsequently embarked on a $30 million renovation project.
Until autumn 2013, undergraduates lived in two houses located in the East Tower of International House, Booth and Phoenix. In autumn 2013, Thompson House and Shorey House moved to the West Tower of International House, due to Pierce Tower's closing.
In early 2016, the university announced that it would reserve International House's rooms entirely for undergraduate residents, and that it would no longer house international exchange students or graduate students for an indeterminate amount of time. Breckinridge House, which had previously been planned to be moved to North Campus and given a different name, was relocated to the areas of International House where the last graduate students had resided, and did not have its name changed.
Max Palevsky Residential Commons
The Max Palevsky Residential Commons, often known as "Max P" or simply "Max" is located at 1101 E. 56th St. and accommodates 712 people. The buildings were designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta, and opened in 2001. Dining is provided in the Bartlett Commons. Three buildings constitute the Commons, sharing a common basement, while students are assigned to one of eight houses spread amongst the buildings: Alper, Hoover, and May Houses in Max Palevsky East; Flint, Graham, and Woodward Houses in Max Palevsky Central; and Rickert and Wallace Houses in Max Palevsky West. All houses are co-ed, although Hoover maintains single-sex floors.The buildings' name recognizes alumnus Max Palevsky, who had donated $20 million to the university "to enhance the quality of residential life on campus." Blair Kamin, a Chicago Tribune architectural critic, wrote after their 2002 opening that the buildings "...just come off." Subsequent architectural criticism has been more favorable, finding that the buildings' layout meets the needs of the modern student body and that their colors and windows echo those of their neighbors.
Renee Granville-Grossman Residential Commons
The Renee Granville-Grossman Residential Commons, often referred to as "Renee" or "South" due to its relative location from the main quad of campus, is located in Woodlawn, south of the Midway Plaisance at 6031 S. Ellis Ave. and accommodates 811 residents. Named South Campus Residence Hall when opened in 2009, the dorm was rededicated as the Renee Granville-Grossman Residential Commons in February 2015 after a $44 million donation to the university. It is split into two sections, East and West, defined by a courtyard for each. The dorm contains eight college houses. RGGRC West contains houses Keller, Halperin, Kenwood, and DelGiorno, while RGGRC East contains Jannotta, Cathey, Crown, and Wendt. Dining is provided in the Arley D. Cathey Dining Commons.Snell–Hitchcock Hall
Snell-Hitchcock Hall, often referred to as "Snitchcock", is located at 1009 E. 57th St., on the main campus quad, and houses 156 residents in two houses. Formally Amos Jerome Snell Hall and Charles Hitchcock Hall, more commonly known as Snell–Hitchcock or Hitchcock–Snell, was built in 1892 and 1901. They are the oldest residence halls still in use as such on campus. Snell is built in a collegiate-Gothic style, while Hitchcock is Prairie Style inspired Gothic. The buildings both feature limestone exteriors and fireplaces, hardwood molding and trim.Snell–Hitchcock is known for having a high level of community spirit and involvement, which is best seen at the annual University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt. Also known as Scav Hunt or simply "Scav", it marks the high point of the year for many of the inhabitants of the two dorms; as of 2012, the Snell–Hitchcock team had won 13 of the 26 hunts to date. The dorm is on the northwest corner of the university's Main Quadrangles at the corner of 57th St. and Ellis Avenue. It is connected via emergency exits to Searle Chemistry Laboratory.Hitchcock was built in 1901, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is built in a collegiate Gothic style, like Snell and most of the University of Chicago's campus, but has many Prairie School elements, such as stone corn husks instead of gargoyles and flat-roofed instead of gabled dormers.
Hitchcock is built in the European "landing" style of dormitory with five stairwells linked through the front cloister and basement, though only the basement is used now to ensure that the building is more secure. The three interior "sections" are each built around a single staircase. Each interior Section consists of two floors of four double-rooms with a fourth floor that has two suites. Most of the rooms have non-working fireplaces. The first floor houses the apartment for the Resident Masters, a live-in faculty couple. Traditionally, each section has had a women-only and a men-only floor, with the suite floor being either single or mixed-sex depending on the desires of the residents.
Woodlawn Residential Commons
Woodlawn Residential Commons, commonly referred to as "Woodlawn", is located at 1156 East 61st Street, south of the Midway Plaisance, and is the largest student dormitory on campus, built to accommodate approximately 1,300 students. It is notable for not being owned by the university itself, instead being financed by Capstone Development Partners and Harrison Street Real Estate Capital and constructed by Turner Construction, though the day-to-day management of the facility is managed by the University Housing and Residence Life staff. The dormitory was designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects. The dormitory is 15 stories tall, and includes 11 houses and a dining hall. Baker, Casner, Fama, Gallo, Rustandy, and Yovovich Houses are located in the East community of Woodlawn, while Chenn, Eka, Han, Liew, and Markovitz Houses are located in the West community.Former halls
Blackstone Hall
Blackstone Hall, located at 5748 S. Blackstone Avenue, accommodated 79 residents. There was only one college house in Blackstone Hall, called Blackstone House. The main campus quadrangles were approximately a ten-minute walk away. The six-story building contained several lounges, a computer lab, a solarium, a fireplace, and a piano. Students resided in "half-double apartments," in which each pair of single rooms contains a shared kitchenette and bathroom. The average room was sized 12 by 12.5 feet.Blackstone Hall was designed by architect Ralph D. Huszagh, and construction was completed in 1930. At the end of 1953, the university had purchased the building for use as a nurses' residence. The residents who had lived there for several years were reluctant to leave, but for the university a more pressing matter left them with no alternative. A shortage of nurses had led to a "most critical situation" in the university's expanding medical system, and the university could not acquire the badly needed nurses without additional housing.
The university issued termination notices to all Blackstone residents in March 1954. Remodeling of the entire interior of the building began shortly after the tenants had left. The rooms were initially constructed as hotel rooms, so the university formed apartments by connecting pairs of rooms with shared baths and kitchens. Despite the apparent urgency in Blackstone's transformation into nursing accommodations, by the end of 1954 the university continued to have difficulties with filling vacancies in the building. Blackstone was abandoned as a nurses' residence, since very few nurses had lived there. Despite efforts by the housing office to fill the rooms with students, there were still vacancies for 25 student couples or 50 single women.
The Housing Bureau made the rooms available for immediate occupancy at $70–75 per month, including all utilities except phone service. Laundry machines were provided in the building's utility room. The rooms were advertised first to married students without children, and no pets were allowed.
In 1962, the building was transformed into a dormitory only for single undergraduate women. In 1966, university officials proposed renovations to reverse the "shabbiness" and deterioration seen in older buildings such as Blackstone. Repairs were needed for broken panes of glass, leaking windows, and cracked paint and plaster. Fundamental renovations were also needed for the electrical and heating systems. Damage caused by the electrical repairs and plastering required complete redecorating of almost the entire building.
Blackstone Hall was one of five "satellite" dorms that was closed after the 2015–2016 academic year upon the opening of Campus North Residential Commons. It was subsequently sold to be turned into apartments.