Pfoho offers a wide variety of housing ranging from singles off of a corridor to the traditional suite setup. But these ain’t no tiny river suites, and even as a sophomore you could be basking in a luxurious duplex in either Holmes or Comstock Halls. Pfoho residents can brag to their friends on the river that they have an extra flight of stairs to claim as their personal space.
Those lucky enough to find themselves in Moors Hall will be subject to streams of people coming to and from the Belltower for parties on the weekends and, let’s be real, on weekdays too. Another housing option is the newly renovated Jordan Hall: apartment style housing with sizeable living rooms, all singles and kitchenettes. “The Jordans” are not connected to the rest of Pfoho (in fact they are actually behind Cabot), but the peace and rager potential of the dorms are worth it to some. Lastly, there is the luxurious Wolbach Hall, suite life living for those who appreciate newly renovated, unscuffed hardwood floors.
The general consensus is that even as a sophomore, you’ll probably be happy with your living situation. Plus, all of the buildings have elevators, so you won’t have to climb the stairs after your long walk home.
Pfoho may have lost the beloved Christakises as House masters this year, but their successors, History of Science professor Anne Harrington ’82 and her husband John R. Durant, have made it their goal to turn Pforzheimer House into a home. Open Houses in the Master’s Residence serve culinary offerings from all over the world; in fact, the first one open to new Polar Bears will feature cuisine from the Pacific Islands.
Students’ praise for Pfoho extends to its tutors. John Bohannon, a non-resident tutor, works to make “Extraordinary Projects” come to life (whatever those may be). Another tutor, Andrey Liscovich, took members of his entryway to Peru for a weekend last semester to visit cultural sites.
If casual international travel isn’t your thing, HoCo also offers movie nights in the dhall once a week. Affectionately known as Felipe Fridays, you can enjoy chips, guac, and beer (for 21+, of course).
When students aren’t listening to the founder of Wolfram Alpha or famous chefs like Ferran Adria at the house’s Pforum series, they can head to the spfa—we know it’s a stretch—and enjoy some peace in a new $5000 massage chair while staring at the tropical wallpaper. Others can head the sound studio and try to become the next Beyoncé or rock out one of Pfoho’s Steinways.
If this sounds a little too chill for you, feel free to take advantage of the new party space that’s going to be developed in On Harvard Time’s current studio, featuring a full kitchen and a name that isn’t the Pfarty space.
Speaking of Pfarties, Pfoho is well known for its annual ’90s dance—an opportunity to get turnt to the Backstreet Boys instead of Bieber. People pflock from as far as Mather to dress like “Clueless” characters and rage in the two story dhall that serves as the House’s most important study and social center. The dhall is also the location of the Mz. Pfoho pageant, a remnant of the war with Adams House in 1999. As a result of its victory, Pfoho residents can swipe into Adams dhall without fear of restrictions.
When the House masters aren’t taking you dogsledding in Maine or letting their 9 year old son Jamie beat you at FIFA, they might be serving you a full English breakfast on the house. But if you’re still resisting Quad life, a new program they created will let you take your professors out to lunch in the Square—courtesy of Pfoho.
The shuttle was late by 6 minutes and 37 seconds, and then it took eleven minutes to get to the Quad from Boylston. Alternatively, you could walk to your country home and be in your duplex suite in fifteen minutes. Yes, you’ve been Quadded, and that sucks in the winter, especially because you can’t actually dogsled to classes. That said, residents do stress that living in the Quad offers you a homey community of three Houses rather than just one to return to after a long day in the Yard.
Other residents bemoan the lack of a stairmaster in the Pfoho gym—maybe those people could just walk up and down the stairs in their duplexes? Another complaint points to the amount of linoleum in dorms and in the dhall, which may make for easy cleanup after a party, but is understandably unappealing. In any case, if someone picked up Pfoho and placed it by the Charles, then you’d be hard pressed to find any detractions.
But hey, that quarter of an hour walk builds character, and Pfoho isn’t moving any time soon.
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