Out with the old, in with the new: occupants work to change the reputation of their houses
Joel Pavelski
Issue date: 10/8/09 Section: Arts
There's a spot on the wall in the Treehouse where the past is bleeding through. A phrase, written with a marker and left by the old tenants - "Chi-O loves The Beat!" - is still visible through the fresh paint. The new residents of 187 West Street knew they were moving into a house with a past, but they didn't expect to be reminded on their wall.
The new tenants of The Treehouse (juniors Laura Golden, Elizabeth Ryan, Michele Philbrook, and Lauren Demianiuk; seniors Larissa Swanson, Sarah Howard and Erin Risch) and the Lodge (junior John Hann; seniors Matt Cole, Brandon Carmack, and Rick Hecker) moved into their respective off-campus houses after they'd been physically renovated, but then set to work on renovating the houses' reputations.
"I don't think that The Beat people would want their name to continue to a totally different group, and besides, we don't want that reputation," Treehouse resident Laura Golden said. "We're not The Beat. We're something else."
Both the Treehouse and the Lodge were renovated this summer - the Treehouse by its landlord, David Geurtin, and the Lodge by Carmack and Hann.
"Brandon and John went back way before school started and spent a long time fixing up the place," Cole said.
According to Cole, the 12 athletes who had owned the house before, when it was dubbed "The Mansion," left the house in poor condition this summer, upset at being kicked out of their home.
"It was really trashed when [Carmack and Hann] got there," Cole said.
Not that he's upset about the situation. Cole and his three roommates originally planned on living in the Suites, but were instead offered the massive school-owned off-campus house.
"The offer was: here's the house, if you want to fix it up, it's yours," Cole said.
Now the four guys split the many rooms between them. There's so much space in the house, in fact, that they don't have enough furniture to fill it. Cole has his own office connected to his bedroom.
The new tenants of The Treehouse (juniors Laura Golden, Elizabeth Ryan, Michele Philbrook, and Lauren Demianiuk; seniors Larissa Swanson, Sarah Howard and Erin Risch) and the Lodge (junior John Hann; seniors Matt Cole, Brandon Carmack, and Rick Hecker) moved into their respective off-campus houses after they'd been physically renovated, but then set to work on renovating the houses' reputations.
"I don't think that The Beat people would want their name to continue to a totally different group, and besides, we don't want that reputation," Treehouse resident Laura Golden said. "We're not The Beat. We're something else."
Both the Treehouse and the Lodge were renovated this summer - the Treehouse by its landlord, David Geurtin, and the Lodge by Carmack and Hann.
"Brandon and John went back way before school started and spent a long time fixing up the place," Cole said.
According to Cole, the 12 athletes who had owned the house before, when it was dubbed "The Mansion," left the house in poor condition this summer, upset at being kicked out of their home.
"It was really trashed when [Carmack and Hann] got there," Cole said.
Not that he's upset about the situation. Cole and his three roommates originally planned on living in the Suites, but were instead offered the massive school-owned off-campus house.
"The offer was: here's the house, if you want to fix it up, it's yours," Cole said.
Now the four guys split the many rooms between them. There's so much space in the house, in fact, that they don't have enough furniture to fill it. Cole has his own office connected to his bedroom.
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