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History of 259 Saint Paul St
Our chapter house, a Colonial Revival, was designed by architects
George Loring and Sanford Phipps and was built in 1896. The picture
to the right shows the house as it was in 1906.
Here is a brief history of our house:
- 1896 Mary Sears sold land to Amos Hatheway.
- 1896 The house was built for Cora and Amos Hatheway.
- January 14, 1925 The Epsilon Theta Chapter acquired 259
Saint Paul for $30,000 from Cora Hathaway, financed through $2000 of
alumni donations and three mortgages.
- 1936-1940 Extensive remodelling was done including
refinishing the second floor, enlarging the dorm, and installing a new
heating system. House capacity was increased from twenty-one to
twenty-six people. A game room, the "Pit," was built in the basement
in a space formerly occumpied by coal bins.
- 1942-1943 The house was again renovated and redecorated
and was said to have the best physical plant in the MIT community.
- August 3, 1947 Fire! Much of the first floor was gutted
and the second floor was damaged by smoke. Many members pitched in to help
with repairs.
- 1959 - 1963 Extensive renovations as part of the Chapter
House Improvement Plan (CHIP). CHIP saw all four floors remodelled,
including: installing a new fire escape, adding new study rooms in the
basement (increasing capacity to thirty-three), moving the stairway,
and removing the central fireplace. Funding came from alumni
donations and three loans.
- 1968 Sprinkler system installed.
- 1970 Changes to support women as the house goes co-ed,
including a divider in the dorm, a women's changing area in the basement,
and Women's Head.
- The Cottage
Farm Historic District of Brookline was established, including 259
Saint Paul St.
- 1986 Women's Head expanded
- 1988 A Brookline health inspector deemed that not
heating the dorm was a violation of a landlord's responsibility to
tenents. Heat was installed in the dorm.
- 1990 Roof replaced.
- 1993 MIT-mandated life safety improvements were
undertaken, including: replacing windows in the basement, changing the
fuses to circuit breakers, and an improved alarm system with alarm
monitoring by American Alarm (founded by Richard Sampson '59).
- 1993 Members replaced dining room floor with strip oak.
- 1994 The boiler for heating the house was replaced as the
nearly 60 year-old one dies.
- 1994 Due to extensive decay in several areas of the porch,
it was replaced and a handicap-accessible ramp added. Some historical
detail was returned to the porch.
- 2002 SPUR renovations will be done.
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