Creative Housing Option

The Trustees were not the first to think that Dartmouth needed more housing alternatives. Students have had alternative living places—many with their own distinct identities—for years. You won't find any of these houses listed in Dartmouth's official literature because they are off campus. Even so, these student houses, some of them Dartmouth traditions dating back a quarter-century or more, continue to be passed down and sublet—though that may be changing as the College recently announced plans to buy some 19 buildings in downtown Hanover, including the so-called "Crack House.

For many first-time off-campusers, the contrast between dorm and off-campus life is sharp—even though some of the houses are closer to the Green than the River Cluster. For those who have lived off campus before, Julia Martiesian '01 speaks for many: "It's nice to get away from campus and just unwind. We actually have a place that feels like a home, not just a space to exist in."